Nightmares On Infernal Winds
by CaptJoe213
Summary: Talim learns of the evil seed, and sets out to destroy the spirit sword. Nightmare stands in her way, prepared to consume her soul. Will the young priestess fall to the darkness? Or will the wind cleanse the entire world? Now Finished!
1. Swords and Souls

_Welcome to my Soul Calibur fic. This story is a bit of a meld of II and III. It explains some of the happenings in II, but borrows heavily from III as well. For example, Tira will feature in fairly prominently. I tried to pull both plotlines together and make sense of them._

_This story will follow Talim as she tries to rid the world of the Evil Seed, Tira as she struggles to find her place in life, and Nightmare as he attempts to drown all creation in darkness. _

_Chapter 2 should be along next week, hopefully. R&R please. Oh, and here comes the disclaimer: I don't own Soul Calibur, any of the characters, Namco, any likeness, trademarks, copy writes, or really big swords with eyeballs in them. So don't sue me. Like it would do any good anyways. I am a poor white boy, and you can't get blood from a turnip, as they say._

Swords And Souls

The young priestess stood on the hillside, taking in the sight of the gently swaying green grass, and feeling the warm sun caress her skin. The wind blew gently against her face, giving her strength. Talim smiled, and read the wind with great enthusiasm.

With no warning, a pillar of light appeared far to the west. The light was bright and harsh, and something about it was menacing. An evil aura engulfed the wind, screaming out from the light like a frenzied wraith. The aura washed over Talim, stealing away her breath. The priestess collapsed to the ground, overwhelmed by what she was feeling.

Tears welled in Talim's eyes, and she felt incomparable pain wrack her body.

"What is this?" Talim whispered before passing out.

It took many months for the priestess to recover from her exposure to the evil aura. With time, and the gentle healing touch of the wind, Talim returned to her full strength. She resumed her training as the last wind priestess, but never forgot the evil aura she had felt that fateful day.

One day a traveling merchant arrived, hocking his wares to the small Asian village. He offered the normal array of merchandise, but one item caught Talim's attention. The man claimed it was a vitality charm, but Talim knew better. The fragment radiated the same evil aura that she had felt reading the wind that day.

"Where did you get this?" Talim queried.

"That my dear, is a one of the kind Egyptian vitality charm! It was blessed by the High priest of Ra himself! And it can be yours for a mere penance!"

Talim knew better, but decided not to argue with the man. She paid the man's steep price and wandered off with her new prize to study it.

The fragment was truly evil, and was something not of this earth. She was not sure where it came from, but it obviously was not made by human hands. As she turned the piece over in her hand, the wind blew strong against her face. She stopped and took note of the wind. The aura once again blew on the wind, but not as hard as the first day. Talim knew the wind was speaking to her. She knew that she had to find the rest of the fragments and destroy them.

It took a great deal of arguing and convincing for Talim to convince the elders of her tribe to allow her to go, but eventually they relented. Talim was not afraid, for she knew she would always be safe as long as she had the wind with her. She gathered up some supplies and started down the long road that would forever change her destiny.

She traveled into the west, following the evil aura on the wind. With every step she took, the evil became stronger, until she came across a group of bandits, with one of them wearing a metal shard around his neck similar to the one that now rested in her pocket.

"Hey boss, look what we got here!" one of the bandits said, smiling.

"Well hello little girl" the boss said, leering.

"Please, I don't want any trouble, allow me to pass" Talim pleaded.

"Oh, surely" the boss said mockingly "I wouldn't dare think of stopping you. That is, if you leave your money here."

Talim had no intention of complying, and instead drew out her trusted tonfas Syi Sarika and Loka Luha. She held them up at the ready.

"Hey boss! She's gonna fight us!" one of the bandits said, laughing.

"Well I guess we'll just have to teach her a lesson then" the boss replied.

"We'll take her money and her innocence too!" the other bandit said, leering at Talim.

"Prepare yourself!" Talim responded.

The three bandits closed in around Talim, moving to trap her between them. Talim was not fazed in the slightest and moved to avoid their trap. She quickly swung her tonfa up, connecting with the boss' chin, knocking him back. The strike elicited the response she expected, and the other two jumped at her. She deftly side stepped away, and through the hole left by the reeling boss.

As the pair of bandits crashed into each other, Talim swung her tonfas in a large arcing circle across her body and slammed them into the bandit closest to her. The bladed edges of the tonfas sliced deep slashes into the man's skin. His dirty brown clothes shredded and became instantly stained with blood. The man crumbled to his knees, but quickly regained his composure and jumped away from the priestess.

The boss had recovered his senses, and moved towards Talim's back, intending to catch her in a sneak attack. He was sadly mistaken, however, for Talim was fully aware of his position. She allowed him to move into the perfect range, and then threw herself forward. She landed on her hands, then drew her knees to her stomach, and immediately kicked outwards as hard as she could. Her feet caught the boss right on the chin, and launched the man high into the air. He fell with a thud, and did not move.

The second bandit had been nearly knocked over by his retreating comrade. He scrambled out of the way and attacked Talim. His sword swooshed through the air, aimed for Talim's head. As Talim completed the somersault from kicking the boss, she rose quickly and brought her tonfas up in a defensive position. She pushed hard against the bandit's sword, causing a shower of sparks to erupt from the colliding weapons.

The guard left the bandit stunned and disoriented. Talim took advantage of the opportunity, and grabbed the man's leg. She pulled him forward by his leg, forcing him to hop on one foot. She then quickly grabbed the man's shoulders and forced him down in front of her. She swung both her tonfas hard, striking each side of the man's face with the blunt end of both weapons. The strike removed several of the man's teeth, and blood spurted out of his mouth. Talim then spun around, using her momentum to propel one tonfa as hard as she could. The bladed side of the weapon slammed into the man's face, slicing through his skin and biting at bone. With the force of the impact, the man flew around and away from the priestess, landing in a bleeding heap on the ground.

"You're full of nothing!" Talim said to the boss bandit before taking his metal shard and walking away, leaving the small band to tend to their wounds. She had not seriously injured any of them. It was not her way to harm another, except only enough needed for self defense. She did not wish to fight these men, but she had no choice. She would not let anyone stop her from her quest to find and destroy the evil which she felt in the air.

She had not gone far from the fray when she heard a gentle rustling in a tree beside the road. It was not the sound of the wind, that much Talim was sure.

"Do you know what those fragments are?" a mysterious voice called out from high in the tree.

"Show yourself!" Talim answered, bracing for another battle.

With the deftness of a cat, a young man with flaming hair dropped down from the tree, landing softly and quietly in front of Talim. The man was wearing a white and orange uniform. Talim did not recognize the symbols on his clothes, but could discern he was a member of some military unit. The man's sword was a pure white, but somehow the surface seemed to shift and dance in the light, almost like it was alive.

"Are you friend or foe?" Talim asked, raising her tonfas instinctually.

"Friend, if that's what you want. My name is Yunsung." The warrior offered.

"I do not wish any enemies at all. My name is Talim." The priestess said, holding her hand out in greeting.

Yunsung and Talim acquainted themselves as they walked down the road, moving towards a small village. Talim felt at ease around Yunsung, and the wind from the young warrior spoke of his character. Whoever he was, he was trustable.

"Those metal shards are part of Soul Edge, the sword of salvation." Yunsung explained.

"How can they be part of the sword of salvation? The shards are deeply evil." Talim questioned.

"That is just the taint of those who have held the sword. Power corrupts men's souls. The sword itself is neither good nor evil." Yunsung explained.

Talim did not think this was the whole truth, but she would not call Yunsung a liar either. She sensed no deception in him, and decided that he might be right. She could not shake her misgivings, however.

Yunsung sought Soul Edge to help protect his country from invasion. Talim sought it to find the evil she felt and destroy it. The priestess decided she would travel with the warrior for now, hoping the two of them could track down the sword quicker than either could alone.

The pair came across a village and decided to rest there, and seek out any information about Soul Edge they could find. The true nature of the sword would soon become apparent to Talim as she investigated the rumors circling the region.


	2. Dances Of Death

_Here is the next chapter in my little didy here. I really enjoyed writing Tira, she is a lot of fun. I hope you enjoy reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it. I apologize that it took a bit longer than expected to post this chapter, I was hit by a huge Star Wars based idea, and have had to do some massive research for that. I will continue with this story though, so no worries about that. _

_Thank you for the reviews so far, I hope to continue to do pleasing work for you. The next chapter will come very soon, if my wife doesn't poison me in my sleep or anything. _

_Enjoy!_

Dances Of Death

Flames danced in the mansion's hallway, its cackling song providing the harmony for the chorus of screams that pierced the burning air. Confusion and anxiety settled into Tira's stomach as she crept deeper into the mansion. The screams she heard were those of her squad mates, of that she was sure.

There should be no screaming, except the death cry of the victim they were sent to assassinate. The rich old merchant possessed no skills that would be any threat to five highly trained assassins. Nor did he have any guards that could impede the job either. Yet the cries continued, anguished, pitiful sounds of great suffering and pain.

Tira continued forward, carefully avoiding the growing fire. She was not sure of what was going on, but she would not allow the job to be left unfinished. It was not her professionalism that demanded this, or else she might be satisfied allowing the fire to destroy her target. No, she would kill the old man herself, she would gaze into his eyes as his soul fled his body. She needed to see him die, wanted to drink in the sight.

The thought of her partners dying did not sadden her, but instead served to increase her bloodlust even more. She reached the door to the target's bedroom, where her comrades had entered just moments before. Swiftly she slid through the door, prepared to face any threat with murderous glee.

The room was ablaze, with fire dancing down the long curtains and cavorting across the top of the large canopy bed that was situated in the center of the room. The old merchant, her team's intended target, lay dead on the bed. On the far side of the room lie one assassin covered in blood. Between Tira and the old man's bed stood the other assassin. He was covered in blood, but not that of the merchant. The assassin stood motionless for a moment, with a look of utter confusion contorting his features. When he noticed Tira, he tensed and raised his sword.

Tira smiled, her need to kill someone, anyone eating at her sanity. She brought her ring blade up to bear, and prepared to parry his blow. The assassin swung his blade, but not at Tira. Instead he brought it around on himself. With one swift motion, the assassin committed suicide by decapitation.

Fury burned in Tira as she was denied the kill. Before the body could even begin to fall, Tira lashed out with her ring, and removed both arms from the dying man. She then swung her blade around and cut a huge chunk of torso off the body. Though she was highly irritated by being denied a kill, she did take some comfort in dismemberment.

Tira turned her attention to the target, noting that the man did not have any visible wounds. She was not sure what had killed the old fool, but it was not a blade. Maybe he died of fright at the sight of the assassins or maybe whatever was driving the assassins mad destroy the merchant. Tira did not truly care, except for the fact that she was not the cause of the fatality.

The popping, crackling heat of the fire lapped at Tira's senses, reminding her of the danger around her. She rolled her eyes, annoyed by the fire as well. She decided that it was time to depart, since there was no one nearby to kill. Tira slinked over to the window, and cut off the burning curtains. She thrust her ring through the glass, twisting the blade to clear out shards.

She then threw herself out the window, landing as gracefully as a cat. She then quickly made her way through the shrubbery of the estate and out the back gate. The inky darkness of the night met her, and wrapped her in its comforting void. She might have missed her target, but she could dispatch a homeless person or a prostitute on the way back to the clan's hideout.

She moved swiftly down dark alleys, twisting and turning her path several times, just in case the authorities were in pursuit of her. She knew they would not be, but it was safer and more exhilarating to imagine they were. As she neared the abandoned building that served as the entrance to her clan's underground compound, she veered her course and sprinted up the dark street.

No more than a few blocks up was a notorious alley where ladies of the night plied their trade. Even with the excitement of a huge estate fire less than a mile away, there would still be girls and johns each looking for a little payout, monetarily and carnally.

Tira entered the alley and discovered that there was only a single girl there at the moment. The woman was dressed in a skintight dress that at one time had been a proper Victorian gown. The ruffle and hoops had been torn from the bottom, leaving it with only enough fabric to cover her if she did not move much. The bodice was altered a slight bit, allowing a deeper view of her cleavage than originally intended. The entire suit seemed to be made to where the woman could expose every erotic part of her body without needing to disrobe.

When the woman noticed she was no longer alone, she looked up with her best come-on smile, only to have it drop at the sight of the scantily clad young woman.

"I'm not into girls honey. You'll have to wait for Dominique to come back." The woman turned and glanced down towards the other end of the alley.

"Oh, I think you will do just fine" Tira hissed.

The woman turned back to Tira to protest, but was not given the chance to. Tira swiftly removed her ring blade from her hip and brought it around in a wicked horizontal swing. The blade sailed an inch in front of the woman's face, startling her. The prostitute thought for a split second that Tira's attack had missed, but then from the corner of her eye caught sight of the sharp prongs protruding from the outer edge of the ring traveling straight for her face.

The prongs caught the hooker's left cheek and removed it, leaving a gaping hole. Before the woman could allow a scream to escape from what was left of her lips, Tira brought her blade back around in a graceful arc. Continuing in the same direction, the young warrior dropped the arc several feet and brought the blade much closer to the prostitute. The blade ripped through the woman's stomach, deep enough to allow some intestine to fall through the gaping gash, and keeping the woman from being able to any sound whatsoever.

Ecstasy flowed through Tira, the smell of blood and pain revitalizing her spirit. She lived for such moments. She lived for death. The woman crumpled to the pavement, blood flowing from her face and stomach.

"What…. What…. Do you…. Want?" gasped the prostitute.

"People are the most beautiful right before they die" Tira answered fiendishly.

The woman looked up with pleading eyes, and Tira just could not contain herself any more. With one swing, her ring blade separated the woman's head from her body, leaving a gush of blood to stain the alleyway.

The sight of the woman's blood quenched Tira, if only for a moment. She needed to kill, and kill she had. Now she could return to her clan's base and sort through the mess that had happened this night.

When Tira entered the base, she found it completely deserted. She knew that two of her comrades were dead, and figured that at least one more had perished at the mansion as well. She fully expected the other four to return, including her master. Tira waited for about an hour before she cleaned herself of the prostitute's blood.

Tira's bath was prolonged as it always was after a kill, with her taking a great deal of time cherishing the memories of the kill. After she was finished with herself and her clothes, she once again returned to the main hall of the base, hoping to find her master there.

She was disappointed when nothing but emptiness greeted her. Fear began to grip her heart. To fight away the dark feelings, she began to sharpen her ring blade obsessively.

Tira was not sure how much time had passed when she came out of her trance like state. A glance up at a small above ground window revealed that it was already daylight, and well into the day at that. Her master had not returned, and Tira now knew that he would never again come. There was no doubt in Tira's heart that he had perished, though in what manner she did not know.

The young warrior ran to her master's quarters and began tearing through his possessions. She knew that her clan was not a single entity, but instead a cell in a larger group. The cells were isolated, with only a single contact from the overall head of the organization. The only thought Tira had was that if she could find the contact, she could move to another cell, and have a new master.

She was not strong enough to make it on her own, she needed a master to serve. She needed someone to focus her killing instinct, someone to provide her direction. The idea of not having a guiding influence devastated her and left her in a frantic state. She tore through everything she could find in her master's room and found nothing to lead to a contact.

Logically, she knew she would find nothing, if the connections between cells were so easily discovered, the entire organization would fall. Tira's rampage finally drained her, and she collapsed on her master's bed, weeping uncontrollably. Her tears rocked her to a fitful sleep filled with nightmares beyond all imagination for the young green haired assassin.

The cloak of night had fallen deeply when Tira awoke. Her rest did nothing to clear her mind, and the confusion and pain continued to wrack her. She did not know what to do, but knew she could not stay there. She slipped out of the base and into the shadows of night in search of her life.

That night did not provide her any answers, only more confusion. She could not discover the fate of her master, or any of the rest of her team. The authorities were unusually cautious and alert, bringing more frustration to Tira.

Without focus, Tira wandered that night, killing any homeless person she came across. Though she lived to kill, she was no fool, and did not dare go for open targets that might bring about attention to her activities.

When morning came, Tira began to head back to the base, but stopped short. She could not bring herself to enter the place, or face the memories of her master. Instead the young warrior stumbled and finally collapsed in a burnt out building. More nightmares flowed down on Tira in her sleep.

Several days passed with Tira doing nothing more than wandering and killing. She did not eat, could not think clear enough to provide any food for herself. She did nothing more than the basic things imprinted in her mind. She forgot who she truly was, or what she was doing. She was nothing more than a mindless beast ravaging her surroundings.

One morning Tira collapsed in a dark alley, unable or unwilling to find shelter for that day's sleep. The hunger ravaged emotional wrecked young warrior did not know that this would be the decision that would forever change her life.

At midday that fateful day, a well dressed man happened to be walking down the street, and caught sight of the green haired woman lying in the shadows. The man stopped in his tracks and began towards her.

"Tommy, go and fetch some water, quickly!" the man called to his young son.

The young boy darted away, and out of sight.

The man kneeled down by Tira, and called to her gently. Tira slowly opened her eyes and took in the sight of the man. He was tall and middle aged. He was well dressed, in a black suit, topped with a tall top hat. His face was kind and gentle, showing no menace in his eyes.

Tira could not think clearly through her hunger, but did not pull away from the man. He radiated an aura of strength and resolve. He reminded Tira of her master, and a glimmer of hope sparked in her soul.

"How old are you, little one?" the man asked.

"Seventeen" Tira said in a groan.

"You are no streetwalker, of that I am sure. What has happened to you?"

"My master died, and left me alone" Tira answered weakly.

The boy ran up with a small bowl of water and the man helped Tira take a sip.

"I cannot leave you here in this shape." The man turned to a stately woman standing back by the street. "She's near dead from hunger. We have to help her."

"Is she one of 'those' girls?" the woman asked apprehensively.

"No, I don't think so. She says her master died, so I think she might have been a pleasure slave."

"Poor thing! Tommy, run ahead and get the spare room ready!" The woman hurried to the man's side.

Darkness danced around the edges of Tira's vision, and she was only barely aware of the man picking her up. He spoke to her, but she was unable to understand him, and did not even attempt to answer. The last thing she remembered before unconsciousness took her was entering a warm house, and being laid on a feathery soft bed.


	3. The Dark Knight

_Well, here we are again. This chapter is a bit longer than the others. I didn't mean for it go so long, but I had a lot I wanted to cover. In this chapter we witness the birth of Nightmare. Next chapter coming soon, hopefully by Christmas!_

_R&R please, and enjoy!_

The Dark Knight

The wind blew gently on Siegfried's face, and the blonde knight closed his eyes and allowed his mind to wander. His thoughts floated back across his life, and what had driven him to become the leader of the Black Wind bandits. His father was a strong man, an honorable man, at least he was in Siegfried's memories. His father had taught Siegfried the ways of the warrior, and how to handle a blade. But his father had left when he was ten, leaving him and his mother to fend for themselves.

His mother had tried her best to be a good woman and live well, but it was not easy for a single mother in that time and place. She was continually bullied by the local scum, and was raped at least twice that Siegfried knew of. His father had promised to return, but he never did. Siegfried never blamed his father, but instead blamed himself for not being strong enough to protect his mother.

The blonde warrior spent his childhood training in his sword techniques, so he could be strong enough to defend his mother until his father returned. He might have become a knight of high standing if not for his anger and bitterness. The day of his downfall came when he found his mother being raped.

He was sixteen that day, and had returned home early. When he entered his home, the door to his mother's room was open, and cries and moans were escaping from inside. Siegfried quickly made his way to the room, and discovered the horrifying sight.

His mother was on her all fours, facing towards the headboard of the bed, and completely nude. The man was on his knees, nude as well, and entering her from behind. Anger consumed Siegfried, and he quickly drew his Zwiehander. With one large arcing swing, he cut the offending man in half. His blade slid along his mother's back, though not injuring her.

His mother let out a blood curling scream, obviously from the horror that she had experienced at the hands of the man. Siegfried tried to comfort her, but she pushed him away. She scrambled and threw on a robe before bolting out the door. Siegfried called after her, but to no avail.

A few moments later, he heard the rattling and clanking of armor, and knew that the guard was coming. He was glad, for then they could see that he had attacked in defense of his mother. The captain entered the home apprehensively.

"Siegfried? Are you in here?" the captain called out.

"In here, captain" the young knight answered.

The guard entered the bedroom, and was taken aback by the sight that greeted him. Siegfried stood there, blood spattered on his armor and completely coating his massive Zwiehander. The nude man's lower body lie sprawled on the bed, a massive puddle of blood staining the sheets. His upper torso had fallen from the bed and landed on the far side, only partially in view. The captain gasped, almost becoming ill.

"My God… What happened here Siegfried?"

"This man was violating my mother, so I had to stop him."

"Siegfried, this man was not attacking your mother. He was her lover" the captain explained.

"I don't believe you! My mother is married! How could she have a lover? The only explanation is that she was attacked!" Siegfried shouted, anger tinting his voice.

"Calm down now, Siegfried. Just calm down and come with me to the castle, and there we will sort everything out."

The captain's words sunk in, and Siegfried realized that he was being arrested.

"Why are you trying to arrest me? I did nothing wrong! I just defended my mother!" Siegfried protested, raising his sword aggressively.

"You killed an innocent man, Siegfried. This is for your own good." The captain backed out of the room, and motioned for the guards assembled outside the door to enter.

Several guards poured into the small room, with swords at the ready. Siegfried was not about to allow himself to be arrested for protecting his mother. He turned his massive sword so that the blade was pointing vertically. He swung the blade hard around, smashing the broad side of the blade into the guards, knocking all three guards off their feet.

When the guards fell, they blocked off the door, preventing reinforcements from entering the small room. Siegfried panicked, and knew he had to flee as fast as he could. The far wall of the bedroom led straight outside, and was the only viable option for escape. Siegfried crossed the room and faced the wall. He was grateful that he had been training that day and was still in his armor. He brought his steel encased fist up and punched the wall with all his might. The wall gave way, opening a huge gaping hole out. With a few kicks the hole was large enough for him to squeeze through.

As he emerged into the daylight beyond the room, the guards finally made their way past their stunned comrades and approached the hole quickly, but cautiously. Siegfried paused for only a moment to look back, and then began to run with all his might towards the Black Forest. The guards made their way out of the house, via the hole, and a handful in a more traditional manner. They called after Siegfried to stop, but he knew better than to listen.

The guards gave chase, though they could not catch up with the blonde knight. When Siegfried reached the forest, the guards gave up the chase entirely. They dared not enter the territory of the Black Wind. The bandits held an unspoken truce with the authorities. They did not prey upon the town, and the guard did not enter their forest. The guards dared not violate this truce and put the town in danger.

It was unlikely that Siegfried would survive long in the forest, at least that's what the guards believed. They did not realize that a few bandits would be no challenge to a swordsman such as Siegfried. The blonde knight wandered deep into the forest, confusion gripping his mind. He did not even consider the Black Wind, nor was he in the least worried about the bandit group.

Not long into the second day of his wanderings in the forest, he was discovered by the legendary bandit band.

"Gimme yer gold, and get your hand off that hilt if you want to live."

Siegfried tensed, and spun around to face four dangerous looking men.

"I'll not say it again pretty boy" the lead bandit warned, tossing a dagger from hand to hand aggressively.

Siegfried gripped the hilt tighter, with a defiant motion. "I will let you live if you stand down."

The bandit laughed. "Get em boys!"

Three of the bandits leapt forward, each brandishing a sword. Siegfried did not flinch away, but instead spun around in a circle. His blade rested waist high to the knight, and swung around in a wicked arc as he turned. The three bandits that were charging him had no chance to react as the blade sailed through the air. All three men were cut through at the waist, nearly chopped in half. They all fell just as suddenly as they had charged, with their life giving blood staining the ground.

When the lead bandit saw his men cut down with such ease, he took the prudent option and turned to flee. As he ran, Siegfried brought his massive blade up, and positioned it to point directly at the bandit. He thrust the blade forward with all his might, and the top edge of the blade caught the man at the very end of its reach.

The blade sliced into the man's back, but not very deeply, though the blow had enough force to knock the man from his feet. The bandit fell with a thud, and Siegfried quickly moved to the man. Siegfried turned him over, and brought his sword to point at the man's chin.

"Tell your leader that I am to be left alone, or I will slay you all."

"Okay, okay. Please don't kill me!" the man stammered.

"Run away before I change my mind." Siegfried said, menace in his voice.

The man ran off screaming, and Siegfried allowed himself a smile. He liked putting the fear in people, especially people like bandits.

There was no sight of the bandits for a few days, and Siegfried figured that the boss of the Black Wind had thought better of attacking him. He soon learned that the bandits had indeed thought better of attacking.

As Siegfried scrounged for food from the underbrush, a group of men appeared from the shadows and surrounded him. Siegfried stood slowly and gripped his sword.

"There's no need for that" a voice called out from just out of sight.

Siegfried did not answer, but continued to grip his sword and stare at the circle of men around him.

"Please, now, I just want to talk, that's all." A man emerged from the darkness of the forest in front of Siegfried. He was tall and lean, and wore a black cloak and hood which hid his features.

"Then speak" was Siegfried's reply.

"It is rare that a warrior appears that can take on four members of the Black Wind and live to tell the tale. Even rarer is one that can take down three of the same four. What is your name warrior?"

"I am your worst nightmare!" Siegfried growled.

"Fine, Nightmare it is then. Here's the deal, Nightmare, I need you. I am offering you a chance to join the Black Wind" the tall cloaked man said with as much persuasion in his voice as possible.

Anger boiled in Siegfried's mind. "You are murderers and thieves! I will never join you!"

"Wait, hold on my boy! We are not those things at all! The royal guards are misleading everyone about us. We are the same as you. Once, I lived in a small village not far from here. One day I saw a thief robbing a poor elderly woman. I was outraged, and attacked the thief. Well, the thief fought back, and I was forced to slay him to save the woman. The royal guard came to arrest me, so I fled into the forest here."

"Did the woman live?" Siegfried asked, his anger softening.

"Of course, thanks to me. Did not something very similar just happen to you? Did you not slay your mother's protector to save her?" The bandit leader smiled.

"How do you know of that?" Siegfried asked in shock.

"It is my job to know everything I can, Nightmare. So, how about it? Join our band and help us uphold justice and truth when the guards will not!"

Siegfried milled it over, and found that the man's story rang true to him. He did not understand much of what had happened to him, but he realized that if he could help protect people, he should. Siegfried nodded to the leader.

"Good! Welcome to the brotherhood of the Black Wind, Nightmare!"

With that the entire group let out a whoop and Nightmare was truly born.

After a few days milling about in the forest, the leader finally allowed Nightmare to go on a mission for the clan. A group of Imperial guards were attacking a small band of traveling merchants deep in the forest, and they were going to go aid them. Nightmare did not understand why the guards would be attacking, but was assured that it was indeed true. Nightmare and the rest of the Black Wind swiftly traveled to the battle site.

When they arrived they saw that it was a group of pirates versus the guards. Nightmare turned from the fray, unwilling to fight for no reason. As he moved to leave the battlefield, one of the guards recognized him, and pointed to him.

"That's the wanted knight! The one that cut that man in half!" the armor clad guard shouted to his companions.

The guards on the outside edge of the battle turned and started after the young warrior. Nightmare had no choice but to engage the men. He pulled out his sword, and took a defensive stance. These guards wanted to take him in for defending his mother, and he was not going to allow that. As he thought of how much of an injustice this was, his anger rose to a boiling point.

Nightmare parried the guards' attacks as they approached. Once they were both in striking range, Nightmare turned to the left one and struck him hard with his fist. The guard stumbled back, stunned. Nightmare turned to the other guard and grabbed him, pulling him close.

"You, die!" Nightmare screamed as he slammed the hilt of his Zwiehander hard against the man's skull. Blood splattered all over Nightmare, emitting from the gaping wound in the man's head. Nightmare immediately brought the blade back up, and swung it hard down once again, only this time allowing enough room for the actual blade to connect. The guard was cut completely in two, each half falling to the ground in a bloody heap.

The second guard had finally recovered from the stun of Nightmare's blow, and began to move forward cautiously. When he saw his partner's gruesome death, he stopped short in horror. This allowed the perfect opportunity for the young warrior. Nightmare brought his blade back behind him, and swung it upwards in a vertical arc. Lifting up the blade with all his might, Nightmare caught the man square on the chin and knocked him a dozen feet into the air. The guard crashed down with a dull thud. Nightmare did not know if he had survived the attack, nor did he care.

Turning back to the battle, Nightmare witnessed his clan leader cut down a tall pale pirate. When the pirate fell, one of his swords stuck into the ground by the corpse. The sword was short, and had an interesting pistol like grip. When the blade was in the ground for a few seconds, it began to change shape. Astonishingly, the sword elongated, and soon was a weapon suitable for Nightmare himself. It was a huge blade, with a single eyeball blinking not far from the hilt. The sword seemed to be alive and searching for something.

Movement drew Nightmare's attention from the blade, and back to the battle. The Black Wind had cut down nearly all the guards, but what appeared to be the captain remained. The captain jumped out to the clan leader and caught him off balance. With one swift blow, the captain decapitated the cloaked man, and his body crumpled beside that of the pirate.

Anger flew through Nightmare, pure rage at the sight of what he thought to be a hero of the people being cut down. Nightmare charged the captain hard, and brought his blade up. When he was in range of the armored man, he swung his sword in a large horizontal arc, and returned the favor of decapitation for his clan leader.

Out of instinct, maybe even need, Nightmare quickly grabbed the large sword with the eye in it. He then grabbed the head of his fallen victim and raised it high in the air. The Black Wind cheered around him, and he brought the head down to gaze upon the face of his foe.

Much to Nightmare's horror, the face was that of his father, who had left him some six years ago. Pain seared through Nightmare's very being as he realized the truth of what he had done. The sword he held began to cackle and pop with energy, and suddenly Nightmare's senses were covered in darkness.

He was told that it was several days later when he had awoken, with the sword still in his hand. The others told him of the battle, but could not tell why he had collapsed. As Nightmare thought back, neither could he. The last thing he could remember was gripping the eye sword.

Later, he had looked over the possessions of those fallen in the battle, and found proof of his father among them. He questioned the Black Wind, but no one knew anything. There were rumors of a black knight appearing and swooping in, but no one got a good look, not even enough to confirm such a person was even there at all. Nevertheless, Nightmare clung to the thought of an outside assassin killing his father, vowing to find this attacker and exact revenge upon them.

The Black Wind named Nightmare their new leader, because of his immense power. Nightmare accepted, planning on using the group to locate his father's killer.

His mind returned to the present, and the hilltop on which he stood. The warm wind suddenly stopped, and he promised himself he would make his father's killer's breath stop just as suddenly. Nightmare started back into the forest, forsaking the hilltop once he was assured there was nothing to see. Nothing would stop him, he would have his revenge.

As he walked away, the darkness of all evil followed him like a diseased shadow, threatening to cover the world.


	4. Scarlet Thunder In The Wind

_Merry Christmas everyone! (or happy insert-your-preferred-holiday-here) I've squeezed out another chapter in my little tale, and offer it as a gift to the world! (oh, no returns, refunds, or exchanges) Hope this aint like getting coal in the stocking. _

_Finally another Talim chapter, I just so look forward to writing each character that I miss each one when I'm not writing them. _

_R&R and enjoy!_

Scarlet Thunder In The Wind

Information about Soul Edge fled from Talim's ears, hiding from the young warrior. No one would tell Talim anything, instead turning her away, and dismissing her as a child. Though she needed to learn everything she could about the blade, she could not bring herself to rough up anyone to get it, at least not yet.

Fate smiled upon her one afternoon. She was lurking in the tavern, hoping to eavesdrop on the local soldiers and woodsmen as they gossiped. As she sat quietly in the corner of the dark bar, she saw a young woman enter the establishment.

The woman had raven dark hair, braided into a single chain flowing down her back. She was of average height, though this placed her some eight inches taller than Talim herself. The woman was trim and toned, with the body of either a dancer, or a well trained warrior. Talim guess the latter, considering the seven foot halberd she had attached to her back.

The woman was wearing only a small halter top, barely covering her chest, and leaving her firm, flat stomach to bear. Around her waist hung two strip like loincloths, one covering each side of her body, and connected by a strap. The entire outfit was a ravishing crimson, as red as blood.

"…for a warrior named Yunsung" the woman said, leaning in towards the barkeeper.

The bartender answered something back that Talim could not understand, but the woman apparently did not like it, for she struck the man hard, sending a spew of blood flying from his nose.

As the barkeep crumpled to the floor from the force of the blow, the rest of the men in the tavern rose to their feet and reached for their weapons. The woman grabbed her halberd from her back, and held it in an offensive stance.

"Do any of you wish to test my close quarter skills?" the woman asked.

Not a soul in the bar moved to respond to her challenge.

"Too bad. Now, someone tell me where Yunsung is, and I'll be gone. And don't give me that 'I don't know who you're talking about' crap, I know he's here in this village."

Talim's interest perked even more on hearing Yunsung's name. Maybe this woman was coming to assist him. Talim hoped deeply that the woman would be an ally in their search for Soul Edge.

Talim approached the woman carefully, with her hands held slightly up.

"I know Yunsung" Talim said brightly.

The woman instantly snapped her attention to the petite girl approaching her.

"You know him?"

Talim nodded.

"Take me to him, now!" the woman ordered.

The woman would only speak her name to Talim, Seung Mina. Mina would not explain how she knew Yunsung, or what she wanted with him. The woman seemed to be hell bent to find Yunsung, and seemed to be quite angry for some reason. The wind told Talim the woman was not evil, just very upset for some reason.

The pair made their way across the village, to the small hut where Yunsung said he could be found. Talim ran ahead.

"Yunsung! Are you here? There's someone here to see you!"

Mina held her silence and did not call out for the warrior.

Yunsung appeared in the doorway of the small shelter, only to stop dead in his tracks at the sight of Mina.

"Give it back, and I will let you go!" Mina demanded.

"Never! It is mine!" Yunsung replied and shot into the house.

Mina huffed hard and turned to run around the house and cover any back exits.

"If he comes out, stop him!"

"Why? What crime has he committed?" Talim inquired.

"That sword he wields is stolen, it is an heirloom of my family!"

Talim was shocked by the allegation, but based on how Yunsung was reacting to Mina's presence there might be some truth to it.

Talim remained in the front of the hut, watching for movement. After a few breathless moments of silence, Yunsung bolted out the front door right at Talim. She held her hand up, motioning him to stop, but Yunsung did not obey her order, and attempted to move past her.

She was not to be ignored, so Talim shot out her foot and tripped Yunsung. The young man was caught off guard, and fell flat on his face.

"What did you do that for?" Yunsung demanded.

"Did you steal that sword?" Talim replied.

"That is none of your concern!"

A dark cloud instantly covered Talim's features. "I am making it my concern!"

The commotion of Talim's confrontation with Yunsung drew Mina's attention from behind the hut. The woman came running, ready to take on Yunsung. Talim held up her hand, and with a stern look on her face, prevented Mina from engaging the prone Yunsung.

"Wait, Mina. We can settle this without unneeded violence."

Mina stood still, but still looked to be quite ready to strike if needed.

"Yunsung, did you steal the sword?" Talim asked.

"No, I did not steal the swo…"

"Liar! You did so steal it! How else would it be here if you did not steal it?" Mina interrupted.

"You gave it to me, remember?" Yunsung answered.

Talim stopped, surprised by this revelation. She opened her mouth, but no sound issued forth. Mina, however was not fazed in the least by the young man's answer.

"I did not give it to you! I said you could train with it, not walk away with it! I gave you a great honor by allowing you to practice with White Storm, and this is how you repay me?" Mina raged.

"The sword is mine!" Yunsung said, rage spreading over his features.

Mina began forward, as to attack the young man. Talim turned to her and tried to halt her advance. The young priestess glanced over her shoulder and briefly wondered why Yunsung was still lying on the ground. Mina took advantage of Talim's brief lack of attention to whirl around the young woman. Yunsung apparently was anticipating this move and snaked forward with his feet and tripped Mina.

Mina fell to the ground, and Yunsung quickly jumped to his feet. He then charged Talim. The young priestess was caught off guard, and was totally defenseless. The young man pressed the back of his hand against Talim's chest, and then struck his own hand with his fist with all his might. The force of the blow knocked Talim down, though because he shielded her with his off hand, she was spared the true pain of such a punch.

Mina began throwing her legs around in an arc, to give herself enough momentum to allow her to spring to her feet. Yunsung noticed her motions, and moved to stop her. He grabbed one of her legs and twisted it along in the same direction as it was going, only much faster. This threw Mina off, and caused her to crash to the ground.

"I will return White Storm when I find Soul Edge. Until then, leave me alone!" Yunsung ordered Mina.

Mina replied with only a deadly stare, full of fury.

Yunsung quickly moved down and slammed the hilt of his sword into Mina's ankle, spraining it effectively, though Mina did not allow him the satisfaction of a scream.

Yunsung moved to Talim, and stood over the stunned girl. "You, little Talim, led her to me. Just when I thought you were a friend, you betrayed me. I won't forget this."

"I…didn't….betray….you" Talim said groggily.

"Oh you did, and you know it. You might even have been in league with Mina from the start. Well, it doesn't matter, if either of you follow me, I will show no mercy" Yunsung threatened.

With those words, Yunsung turned and sprinted away. Talim allowed a moment for her head to clear, and then stumbled to her feet. She looked towards the path Yunsung took and knew he already had a sizeable lead. As she started to take after him, she remembered Mina, and whirled around to check on the woman.

Mina was on the ground, her ankle tilted out at an unnatural angle. She was not making a single sound, but tears streamed down her face from the pain. She did not seem to be aware of anything except the report her ankle was issuing.

Talim fell to her knees beside Mina, and tried to get the woman to respond. It was obvious that her ankle was at least sprained, possibly even broken. Talim wanted to chase after Yunsung, but she could not leave Mina behind injured.

With a few shouts, Talim alerted some nearby villagers who summoned the local healer. Mina was moved to the healer's house, where she was treated for her ankle. Mina's injury was not as serious as it appeared.

Talim wandered about the village while giving Mina time to heal. She decided to wait for Mina, and help her track down Yunsung. The brazen warrior had committed robbery, and Talim could not allow him to get away with it. Besides, Mina might be helpful in tracking down Soul Edge, and it was never a good idea to travel alone, if it could be helped.

Soon Mina would be healed, and they both would be on their way. Hopefully they could track down Yunsung before he, or anyone else, could find Soul Edge.


	5. Bloody Streets

_Well dear reader, here we are again. I have finished another chapter, and I hope it is up to par, quality wise. I really enjoy writing up Tira, since she's just like me, well except the crazy killing people part. I'm a touch crazy, just like her. Well, okay, she's like loop the loop crazy, but close enough. Now if I could only convince my wife to wear green lipstick my fantasy life could be complete………_

_Soon we'll return to sweet little Talim, and see how Mina and her are making out. Be sure to check back and catch all the action!_

V. Bloody Streets

Two weeks had passed since Tira was taken in, and she had begun adjusting to a new version of life. She learned that the man was a minister, and one of high standing, no less. He had tried to clean her up, and introduce her to a proper life, but Tira still did not understand it.

She had even given up her standard clothes for something far less revealing. Tira left her ring blade behind as well, though she still continued to carry a small blade underneath her prim and proper petticoat. Though it made her feel nearly naked, she was forced to forget the green and purple makeup she so adored.

The minister was her new master now, and she would do everything she could to please him, as she did with her last master. She needed to have someone to pledge herself to. He would lead her, guide her, and shape her. She would follow him, learn from him, and emulate him until she learned everything, then she would kill him.

Her bloodlust still burned deep in her veins, but her new master had commanded her away from such things. Instead of defying her new master, she instead stalked the streets at night and limited her kills to stray animals.

The minister had caught her sneaking back into the house one evening. He was quite alarmed until Tira told him it was dog blood splayed across her dress, not human. He had lectured her on the virtues of his religion, though little of it made sense to Tira. She had been trained all her life to be an instrument of death, and yet this man told her that she should not be.

At the moment when the minister lectured her, Tira realized that she truly had no master. This man could not be her master if he was not willing to help her hone her skills and teach her to be more efficient at killing. She decided that she had to move on, though was reluctant to do so.

These people could not help her, or fulfill her, but they had saved her. No matter how much she needed blood, she could not just turn on these people. She did have a sense of loyalty, no matter how cruel she could be.

A few days after the bloody dress incident, Tira went to bed, her mind troubled with trying to find a way to part company from the family in a way that would satisfy her sense of honor. A little after midnight that night, the minister entered her room, and stood in the darkness.

The man reached over to the bedside table and lit the lamp there, bathing the room in a soft light. The shadows danced across Tira's large canopy bed, and provided a near romantic setting. Tira did not move, but instead just stared at the man with her deep, cold, calculating eyes.

The minister did not speak, but instead reached for the covers on the bed, and with one swift motion, jerked them away.

Tira lay on her bed, devoid of any coverings other than the full length white nightgown she was made to wear. Even in such a long flowing garment, Tira was still a sight to behold. She did not shy away from being exposed, for one since the nightgown had more fabric than she ever normally wore, and two because her former master trained her in the art of seduction.

Her master had taught her that she was extremely beautiful, and the object of many man's desire. She could use that to her advantage by luring a man in with the promise of romantic interludes, only to kill him instead. She was poison, like a rose with infected thorns. She could be seen, and draw others in, only to sting and kill them before they could deface her beauty.

Her mind was drawn of its consideration of past lessons by the minister jumping on her bed. He quickly threw himself on top of her, with malicious intent. Tira did not immediately react, thinking it was some sort of training ritual. She offered a bit of resistance, if only gauge the man's strength and discover the goal of the exercise.

It became immediately clear that this was not a training exercise at all. The man reached down and tore at Tira's nightgown, opening a large tear in it. With one hand, he attempted to hold Tira's arms down, and with the other, he pawed away the cloth of the garment and revealed her breast. The minister groped at her exposed flesh hungrily and with force, sending shots of pain through the young woman.

Tira struggled back, but was only able to wiggle one hand free. The man immediately released her breast and pinned her hand down beside the pillow. Tira realized what the man intended, and quickly crossed her legs, trying to lock her ankles together. The minister tried to force his knee between her legs, but Tira held him off.

The minister turned his entire focus on getting her legs apart, allowing Tira to move her arm ever so slightly. She wiggled her right hand close enough to her pillow to feel the hilt of the knife she always kept hidden under it.

She grabbed the blade and extracted it from its resting spot. With one snap of her wrist, she turned the blade upwards and sliced into her attacker's arm. The minister's concentration was instantly broken, and he sat back some, lifting his arms up.

"You cut me, you little bitch!"

Something inside Tira snapped, before she was just annoyed, now she was furious.

She had only intended to kill the minister for trying to rape her, but now that wouldn't be enough. Now she would make his entire family pay. Any gratitude she felt burned away, and her bloodlust once again took over.

Now it was time to end this, and return to what she knew and love, death. Tira smiled wickedly, and then jammed the knife blade into the man's stomach. He gasped in surprise, and bent down, his face not far from Tira's. She gazed deep into his eyes, as he realized he was about to die. This sight invigorated and excited the young assassin, reminding her of how much she missed human kills in the past few weeks.

Tira reached up and grabbed the minister's hair, and pushed up as far as she could. She then extracted the blade from his stomach, and quickly swung it around and sliced through the man's throat. Blood showered down from the wound, and Tira basked in it. The minister tried to speak, but did nothing but release a few gurgles. After a few moments, the light of life fled from his eyes, much to Tira's dismay.

Finished with her prey, she kicked the man in the groin and lifted him off her, and landed him on the floor with a dull thud. Tira shook all over with the excitement of the kill, and the burning desire to kill even more. She could barely calm her fingers enough to put her clothes back on.

It felt very good for her to be wearing her old clothes again, instead of those stuffy, restrictive dresses they had forced her into. She strapped her knife to her left ankle, its normal resting place, and retrieved her ring blade from under the bed. She was going to enjoy finishing off the family, and would do so with her ring blade, as she preferred.

After taking a moment to admire her murderous appearance in the mirror, Tira moved quietly into the hall outside her room. She snuck quietly to little Tommy's room, and slipped inside, hidden by the darkness.

He was sleeping very peacefully, not aware of the deadly woman standing beside his bed. Tira realized that she would feel no joy in killing the boy, but he had to die. His father's actions had ensured that everyone in the house would taste death this night.

"The son will pay for the sins of the father" Tira whispered to the darkness.

Tira raised her ring blade, and turned it to where one of the spikes that shot from the outer edge of the blade was positioned just over the boy's heart. She wanted to kill the boy quickly, and with as little pain as possible. With one hard shove downward, the spike tore through the boy's flesh and bit deeply into his heart. Tommy's eyes shot open, and he tensed up all over. He didn't utter a sound, just a look of surprise twisting his features.

After a few moments, he went totally limp and breathed no more. Tira was highly annoyed since she found no thrill in killing children. Though her anger boiled deeply, she took the time to cover the boy's body completely, as a sign of respect.

She hated herself for doing what she just did, but also knew she had to. She was so totally obsessed with punishing the minister and his family that she could not leave anyone alive. It was times like this that drove Tira to near insanity. She hated having to do it, but hated not doing it even more. The confusion and pain in her soul served to do nothing more than to increase her volatility.

Tira left the boy's room and stormed up the stairs to where the minister's wife lay sleeping. No matter how angry she was, she did not allow herself to be detected. If she allowed her prey to discover her, the woman could call for help, or make enough of a ruckus to draw attention to the home. As Tira reached the top of the stairs, she slipped in the room with such silence that a ghost would have been jealous.

The bedroom was very large and ornately decorated. The minister and his wife slept in a large canopy bed, even bigger than the one in Tira's room. It appeared to be made of some exotic wood, and quite expensive. A full length double window sat to the left of the bed, open, with silk curtains blowing in the breeze.

The woman was sleeping in the bed, a look of peace spread across her features. Tira's mind boiled to nearly unbearable levels of frustration and confusion. She quickly decided she would vent on the woman in the bed before her.

Standing over the woman, Tira removed her knife from its scabbard, and inspected it closely. Satisfied it would do the job she needed, she then thrust the knife down into the woman's throat. She was careful to sever any arteries, only cut enough to keep the woman from screaming, and stun her from the pain.

When the blade touched, the woman was jerked awake from her sleeping state, only to find that any sound she made just escaped quietly through the new hole in her throat.

"Your husband tried to rape me, so I'm going to kill you" Tira said, her voice dripping with malice.

The woman just shook her head vigorously, and brought her hands up in an attempt to plead for her life. Tira ignored the woman's pleadings, and sheathed her knife in favor of her ring blade.

With one graceful arc, the ring blade came around and removed the woman's hands from her arms. The lady's attention immediately turned from Tira to her newly gained stumps. Tira took advantage of the situation, and quickly snaked her blade forward again, cutting a deep trench right through the woman's stomach.

Tira then jumped up on the bed with a fanciful and acrobatic jump, intended more for show than for utility, and straddled the woman. The feel of her blood oozing out of her stomach wound and soaking into Tira's pants excited her to no end. Tira wrapped herself in this veil of death, savoring every sensation she felt as the woman's life fled her.

With the blood loss from the three different wounds, the woman no longer had the strength to struggle at all. She just gave up, and stared with pleading eyes at the young woman in green above her.

Tira couldn't contain herself, and quickly bent down and kissed the woman hard on the lips. It was not a sexual kiss in any manner, but the only thing Tira could think to do with herself in the intensity of the moment.

"Die for me!" Tira commanded.

The woman complied, and life finally fled her newly disfigured body. Tira sighed in disappointment and climbed down from her ghastly perch. She was now glad that she had taken the time to kill silently, for it allowed her the time to do her ritual bathing.

Tira bathed and washed her clothes in the master bathroom, not more than a handful of feet from her final victim that night. After her cleansing, she wandered back into the bedroom, feeling the crash coming over her. After a job she always crashed, and fell hard. She never knew how to deal with it properly, but her old master would always find a way to keep her from falling too far into depression. But she had no master to spar with now, or to help her in any way.

As Tira mulled about, fighting the emotional crash and looking for a way to make one last blow against the man who dared to try to violate her, an idea struck her. She would take all the money she could find, and use it for her own ends.

She knew what money was, and all about it, but had never even touched any in her life, nor had she ever been concerned with it before. Her master took care of such things, providing everything she needed and wanted for her. She was not allowed outside except for at night in the stretches between jobs. And only then long enough to satisfy her bloodlust with a streetwalker or a homeless person.

Tira gathered all the money she could find in the home, all told it ended up being a sizeable sum. She then waited quietly until morning, finding a whetstone in the kitchen and using it to sharpen her blade.

In the morning, Tira wandered about the city, looking for where she might find something suitable for her to blow the family's money on. Wandering about the market square, she came across a vendor selling chocolates from far off lands. The vendor offered her a sample, and she was entranced. She bought a large sack full of the delicious dark confections, and strode away munching on her newfound treasure.

She also wasted a great deal of money on a necklace featuring a silver chain and a single gold raven charm. She did not know why, but for some reason the necklace called out to her. She also bough the matching bracelet, a murder of ravens linked together to form the piece. Even after her splurging, she still had ample funds available. She left the market square in an unbelievably good mood.

Her good mood quickly faded as she rounded a corner and came face to face with a city guard. The guard began to grunt at her to move along, only to stop short when he noticed her appearance.

"Hey! Look Captain! There's a girl in green, carrying a circle weapon! That's the one we've been looking for, the one spotted leaving the burning mansion!" a guard called out.

"Freeze right there! You're under arrest!" the Captain ordered Tira.

Tira panicked and ran for her life, darting through the twists and turns of the city streets. Her pursuers were quick, but she was much faster. With her cat like grace, she easily avoided them, and sprinted out of the city.

She knew that she could not return there, for the authorities were on to her. Besides, there was nothing left for her there anyway, no master, no home, nothing at all. Tira kept going, driven on by the thrill of the pursuit, and unable to shake the exhilaration.

Even after two straight days of running through the rolling countryside, she still continued running, moving as fast as she could. She did not know when she would stop running, but only when the flurry of thoughts in her head stopped would she be safe.

And when she was safe, she would find a new master, a strong master. One that would teach her, and show her the way she should exist. He would be as ruthless as she was, and he would be her everything.

Her mind wandered over this dream of a new master, giving her strength to continue her flight. She dreamed of this dread lord that she would give herself to completely. She would learn from him, and he would complete her.

Tira ran on into the night, obsessively dreaming of her perfect dark master, praying that she would meet him soon.


	6. Wandering Taint

_Here is the next Talim chapter, I hope it is readable. Talim is facing some new threats, both from foes, and from friends. Talim is not fazed by this, and is more determined than ever to continue her quest to rid the world of the evil sword._

_I hope to have the next chapter up before too long. My wife got a new job, and it looks like a move is in order. I don't believe it will impact my posting any, but you can never tell. If any of the next few chapters are long in coming, I apologize in advance. _

_The next chapter will be a Nightmare chapter (I think, if not, a Tira one) so I hope to see you back when I post it. Until then, please enjoy this chapter here and R&R please!_

VI. Wandering Taint

While Mina healed up from her injury, Talim took the time to search about the surrounding area, and discover all she could about the cursed blade she sought. She had heard rumors of a dark knight in the west, destroying all that he came across. He was only referred to as Nightmare, and it was said that he was not human. He was the vilest of evil, and supposedly unstoppable.

One rumor put this Nightmare as the wielder of the spirit sword, but none of the drunken men in tavern believed it, and all laughed at the poor fellow that offered the information. They could not believe that the weapon called the 'sword of salvation' could be evil.

Talim instantly knew this rumor to be true, the wind itself seemed to confirm it. She knew that if she found this Nightmare, she would find the blade, and the source of evil she was searching for. Once she found it, she would destroy it, for the sake of the world.

After many weeks of waiting, Mina finally recuperated enough to travel and fight, if need be. Talim woke that morning as cheery as usual, and went about her usual routine of bathing and cleaning up, and then reading the winds.

The wind was dark that morning, as it had been since she started her journey. Each passing day brought a deepening darkness in the aura of nature. This troubled Talim, and made her all the more eager to be on her way.

Nature was not pure dark, however, and the powers of the wind and light still caressed Talim's soul. She drew in on the strength of the Wind Goddess, praying for divine assistance in her quest.

Mina wandered up behind Talim, but did not say a word, instead just stood there watching the young priestess intensely. Talim sensed her presence in the wind, but continued on in her meditations.

"Well, we better get going." Talim said once her prayers were complete.

"Yeah, you're right. We better get out of here before Shara decides to put me back in bed. I told that old biddy I was fine four days ago!" Mina complained.

Talim laughed lightly. "Now, now. Be nice, Shara is just doing her job as a healer."

"Yeah, yeah. Let's get going." Mina grumbled as she started back towards the village.

After the pair made their way around the village thanking people for their help, and gathering supplies, they were finally ready to set out. Everything the two girls sought lied to the west, so that's the way they went.

The trip went without incident for a handful of days. Not even bandits dared bother the duo, perhaps intimidated by the weapons they carried, or more likely they were heading west themselves in search of Soul Edge.

The pair walked on for a few days, sharing stories of their lives, and of memories of good times past. After a long day of hard travel, night fell, and the pair set up camp. The night air was very chilly, colder than it had been for the entire trip.

Mina got a fire going, and Talim set out the night's rations. After eating, Mina leaned back against a tree and sighed slowly.

"Hey, how about you show me one of those wind ritual dances you've told me about?" Mina asked.

"Well, I guess I could do that" Talim responded, standing.

Talim stood in the middle of the camp, close by the fire. The light from the fire danced across her dark skin, giving her a very sultry air. Talim took out her tonfas, and brought them in front of her. With a deep breath, she began the dance of the wind.

The young priestess twisted and twirled, gracefully arcing her tonfas about her body with deadly precision. As she moved about, and spun the weapons around, the wind began to blow softly, a warm breeze that seemed to caress the area around Talim.

Mina sat enraptured by the sight of the young woman's dance. The wind itself seemed to augment Talim, and her dancing became more pronounced, and stronger. Her body rippled with the intensity she felt, relaxed but yet ready to strike at any instant.

The dance came to a close, and Talim lingered in the closing pose for a few moments, breathing in the exhilaration of the dance, something she hadn't felt since beginning her journey. As the dance ended, the wind lost its warmth and returned to an icy, chilling gust.

Mina jumped up and ran over to Talim. "That was amazing!" she exclaimed and embraced the young priestess tightly.

"Thank you" Talim responded, slightly embarrassed by the attention being lavished on her.

Mina released her, and with one last beaming smile, returned to her resting spot by the tree.

After a bit more adulation from Mina, the pair decided to head to bed. So far in their trip, the two had been sleeping on opposite sides of the small tent, but no night had been as cold as this one.

Mina stood watching, with a thoughtful look on her face as Talim began unpacking her bedroll.

"I have an idea" Mina announced.

"Yes?"

"Well, since we have such light blankets, and because it's so cold, I think maybe we should consider sleeping beside each other."

Talim did not respond, but did give Mina a confused look.

"Well, I say that because we can double up our blankets and make them thicker, and use our body heat for warmth." Mina stammered.

Talim turned the idea over in her mind. "That's a good idea, let's do it."

Mina sighed, and allowed a smile to spread across her face. She quickly moved over to Talim's side, and as soon as the younger warrior lay down, she huddled up against her.

Talim had never slept in such a situation before, being an only child. She was not all that uncomfortable, she just found the situation very foreign. After a few moments, Talim began to see the situation as a form of bonding, a show of trust in their still new friendship.

Sleep fled young Talim, for reasons she was not sure of. She tried to remain perfectly still, as to not disturb Mina. The other woman had not spoke a word since they had laid down, but her slow and rhythmic breathing seemed to indicate she was fast asleep.

Mina stirred a small bit, and rolled off her back, and curled up right against Talim, who was still on her side facing away. Mina pressed up against Talim hard, every inch of her body now in contact with Talim's back. Mina flung her arm over Talim with a heavy flop. A few seconds passed, and Mina then moved her arm up, in a sudden, quick movement.

Her repositioning left her hand pressing against Talim's chest. As soon as her hand came to rest, Mina shuttered a bit again, and her hand then closed around Talim's breast, nearly massaging it.

Talim froze in shock and surprise, not knowing how to react. A second or two longer, Mina gave her breast one last squeeze, gentle but firm. She then flatted her palm out, making as full as contact as possible, before sliding it down to Talim's hip, and falling off her completely.

Talim sighed in relief, glad that the appalling contact was over, though she could not shake the intense feeling that the actions just performed seemed to be unlikely for a sleeping person.

The young priestess shook off the thought, convincing herself that it was the bumblings of a restless sleeper and nothing more. Nevertheless, Talim drew her elbows up against her sides hard, and cupped her hands together in front of her chest to prevent any more 'accidental' contacts.

The next morning Mina acted as though she had no knowledge of her flailing the night before. Talim even ventured as far as to ask her how she slept, and she just replied with a chipper 'great!'

The young warrior put the incident from her mind, and soon the pair was once again on their way west.

A few more days of traveling placed the two women in a port town on the very edge of the desert. There they learned that a man matching Yunsung's description had crossed the ocean about a month before they arrived.

The pair quickly chartered a crossing for themselves, and was left with a few days to kill while awaiting the boat to return.

Mina parted with Talim, saying she needed to go somewhere quiet and train. Since she was alone, Talim decided to wander the small town, and maybe seek out the local healer. She always preferred to speak with the healer wherever she went, since they were the closest thing to a shaman in these western towns. It was comforting for her to be among herbs and medicines, all things her mother was responsible for back home.

As Talim made her way towards the healer's home, a man appeared out of seemingly nowhere, and stood squarely in her path. He was of average height, though this did not keep him from nearly towering over the quite short Talim. He was fit and trimmed, and his ripping abs was exposed by the thin, open, red jacket he wore. He wore dark pants, loosely fitting, and made for maximum mobility.

He also carried a large red staff on his back, a weapon jutting out several feet beyond his head. Though it was not bladed, it was intimidating nonetheless.

When Talim reached the man, he held up his hand and motioned her to stop.

"You have something I want" the man said.

Talim looked around to see if he was truly talking to her.

"Yes you. I'll not say it again. You have something I want, and I will have it."

"You have mistaken me, I'm not selling anything. Please, let me through." Talim said, tension rising in her body.

"Don't play coy with me. Hand over that shard you have, and you won't get hurt." The man reached back and rested his hand behind him, presumably on his staff.

Talim was shocked that the man knew of the shard she carried wrapped up in her pocket. There was no way he, nor could anyone else here, know of it.

"I cannot give you the shard. It is evil, and I cannot allow you to be tainted by it" Talim said, her hands falling to her sides, and resting on the hilts of her tonfas.

Kilik sighed, and relaxed his posture, though he did not release his staff. "I am Kilik, from the east. I have already been tainted by Soul Edge. I want nothing more than to purify the shards, and only I can do that. Now please hand it over."

"I'm sorry, no, I can't give it to you" Talim answered, her body filling with tension.

Kilik swiftly brought his rod around in a graceful swinging arc, and brought it up in front of him.

"Do you really want to do this?" Talim pleaded.

"C'mon!" Kilik answered before making his opening attack.

Kilik shoved his rod straight forward at Talim, but she was anticipating such a maneuver. She quickly did a cartwheel to the side, nimbly avoiding the rod. She then rushed forward and struck the man hard on his chin with her tonfas.

He was unable to recover his balance before the young woman attacked. The force of her blow sent him spinning off his feet and slamming to the ground. Kilik had not even fully hit the ground when he started the spinning leg sweep that would allow him to spring right back up and into the battle.

As soon as he was back on his feet, Kilik once again went on the offensive, swinging his staff around in a large horizontal sweep. Talim ran forward, and right as the staff reached her, threw herself to the ground. She used her hand to keep her torso off the dirt, and stuck her foot forward in a slide. Her forward momentum continued to carry her towards the warrior, and her foot slammed into his shin, once again throwing him to the ground.

"Please…Don't get up!" Talim pleaded.

Kilik did not listen, and once again sprang up, prepared to continue the battle. Talim sighed heavily, wondering why this man did not realize that someone that fought with long range weapons was nearly impotent versus a close range fighter like her. She knew that she needed to end this battle now, before anyone was truly injured.

The young man charged forward, and brought himself within a few paces of Talim. He then began swinging his rod in swooping circular motions around himself, almost like a human pinwheel, with the rod switching from one side of his body to the other.

Talim gracefully flipped backwards, and out of the path of the spinning rod. She watched carefully as Kilik continued his motions. He shuffled back himself a few inches, and decided he was at optimal range. He then brought the rod out of the spin, and shot it forward in a straight thrust.

Apparently he had not learned the lesson Talim had taught him, since this attack was the same as his opening move. This time, though, Talim did not charge him. Instead she stepped forward a few steps, and off to the side to avoid the weapon. She then kicked at Kilik's hands as hard as she could.

The warrior was caught off guard by the attack, and his staff went flying from his hands, landing several feet away. Kilik stood in shock, lost in a moment's hesitation. Talim did not allow this opportunity pass her.

She closed in and struck Kilik with each of her tonfas in rapid succession. As soon as the blows landed, she began to spin herself around, and stepped to the side. She continued her spin, and threw her arms out, making herself a whirlwind of tonfas.

Her tonfas struck the man hard, and sent Kilik spiraling off and crashing to the ground. Kilik did not even attempt to rise from his fall this time, finally conceding defeat.

"You're full of nothing!" Talim exclaimed as she stood over the defeated warrior.

Kilik just stared back at her, pain showing in his eyes, but not the pain of the battle, but instead the pain of the darkness he carried inside him.

Talim lingered a moment over Kilik, wishing there was something, anything, she could do for the man to help him lose the pain she saw in her eyes. Her pity was quickly interrupted by the sound of a howling scream, originating to the side and behind her. Before she could turn to investigate, Mina flashed by her with her halberd at the ready.

Mina jumped at Kilik, with the intention of cutting the warrior from top to bottom. The deadly flight of Mina's halberd was cut short by a longsword that appeared above Kilik to protect him. Mina's weapon bounced off, and she stumbled back, shocked.

The longsword was gripped by a young woman in a long sleeved red blouse. Dark shorts clung to her trimmed and toned legs. Her dark hair was short, and held back by a strip of red cloth. Her entire outfit spoke of blood, the top part red as any crimson flow, the bottom part as dark as any dried puddle.

"Go away!" the woman shouted. She then performed a front swinging kick, knocking away Mina's halberd. As soon as her foot landed, she brought her other foot up and thrust it hard at Mina in a standing side kick. Her foot landed squarely against Mina's chest, and sent the young woman flying.

Kilik crawled over and retrieved his staff, and then moved to the woman's side.

"Xianghua! What are you doing here?" he said breathlessly.

"Shut up! Let's go" Xianghua answered, holding her sword at the ready.

When Talim did not move to stop them, Xianghua gathered up Kilik and the pair darted away.

Mina scampered to her feet and grabbed her halberd. She then moved to follow the pair, but was stopped short by Talim.

"Let them go."

"What? He attacked you! How can we just let them go?" Mina protested.

"I did not want to fight in the first place." Talim explained.

Mina sighed. "Okay okay. Anyway, I came to tell you that the boat arrived early. We can leave immediately."

"Good. We need to move on anyway" Talim replied, walking back towards the dock.

In a few hours the two warriors were loaded on the ship and pursuing Yunsung and Soul Edge across the sea. With every inch they moved, the darkness in the wind deepened, chilling Talim to the bone. She was not sure of what they would find on the other side, but she did know that her life would forever change.


	7. Plains Of Despair

_Another update from me, I do hope you enjoy it. This chapter deals with Nightmare, and pays a little bit of service to the Soul Calibur III game, and in turn LOTR. I enjoyed writing it, Nightmare is almost as much fun as Tira. _

_I do want to say that I'm not able to read any reviews until the day I post a chapter, and therefore don't get to answer any here until the chapter after I read. In other words, you review 1, I read when I post 2, and can't respond until 3. So if I'm a little late implementing improvements that you suggest, this would be why._

_Eurasia, I want to thank you for your well written review. I do not know if it was intentional, but I found it to be quite considerate to my feelings. I appreciate your input a great deal, and as soon as I read it, I immediately began working on the improvements you suggested. I can sometimes be too detailed in my work, so I've been trying to avoid that here, so thank you for pointing out that I've gone more towards the other extreme. _

_Praise is always welcome (VERY welcome!) but if any of you readers have any suggestions whatsoever, please don't hesitate to review and tell me. You are my client, my 'customer' so to speak, and my job is to entertain you. _

_Tune in next time for more of Tira's exploits, but for now, let the entertainment begin!_

Plains Of Despair

In the months Siegfried spent wandering the dark woods of the German countryside, he slowly began to lose his will to the evil force of Soul Edge. At first, Siegfried did not notice any effects other than a fierce jealousy of the weapon. The very thought of releasing the hilt would send shudders of pain and hatred through his very soul

Then came the dreams, sleepy, floating images of death that danced through his mind. The morning after the second dream, Siegfried awoke and discovered his hands were covered in blood, and he was back in his full armor. He was also several yards away from his tent. When he wandered back into the Black Wind's camp, he discovered a horrid sight.

The camp was a handful of white canvas tents, nestled in a small clearing in the middle of the dark woods. A large fire smoldered in the middle of the clearing, having burned itself out. A single wagon hid itself among the trees on the edge of the camp, laden with boxes of stolen loot.

The entire camp was covered in a crimson red tint, blood splattered on the tents, dripping down the face of the tent like bloody tears. Bodies were strewn all around, littering the ground, hanging out of the tents, and one even drooped over a branch of a tree some twenty feet in the air.

The bodies were all cut down by an enormous blade, judging from the size of the wounds they had suffered. Several of the men had been separated from their appendages which now littered the entire area.

The sight itself shook Siegfried to the core, and he ripped off his helmet to get a closer look at the carnage. He realized the only sword capable of such devastating blows was the one in his hand. He looked down at Soul Edge, and could see the sickly black tar of dried blood coating the blade. He was absolutely sure that no one else had touched the weapon, so the only one that could be responsible for the horror in the camp was him.

He had no memory of what he had done, nor could he explain how he could slaughter an entire camp of bandits in his sleep. Nevertheless, he had done so, and now his men were all dead.

These men had taken him in after he had been ran out of his home and town by the guards, protected him from those that would pursue him. They had become his friends, his family. Then they had made him their leader, showing him that they trusted him and looked up to him.

But now, they were all dead, and by his own hand. What had driven him to such an act? Had it ever happened before? If it could happen in his sleep, who was to say that he hadn't killed wrongly while awake? All these questions plagued his mind, and his memory floated back to the day he had found his father murdered.

He tried his best to push away the idea that was coming to his mind, but he was unable to. _Did I, did I kill my own father? _Siegfried's mind could not handle the thought of him being the murderer he had sought.

Siegfried fell to his knees, shudders and sobs streaking through him. He desperately denied that he was capable of killing his father, but yet something inside of him whispered that it was true.

He tried to push away the dark voice he heard whispering in his mind, but was unable to do so. His sorrow washed over him, and the voice grew more insistent. When he didn't give into the first whisper, the voice changed. Instead it offered that he indeed was not his father's murderer, and if only he would give in to the voice, he could find the one responsible.

Siegfried grabbed onto this idea, desperate to believe in his own innocence. The voice seemed to sense this, and began begging Siegfried to give himself to the voice and gain the power to avenge his father.

The only answer, the only solution that Siegfried could see was to do as the voice instructed, to submit himself to it, and pray that he would gain the power he so desired. He closed his eyes, and gave away his will, and sunk into the voice, wrapping himself in its inky darkness.

He was still on his hands and knees, and he continued to jerk and shudder, but not from tears. The moment he gave himself to the sword his tears became laughter. The more he chuckled, the more it felt right to him. He closed his eyes tightly as gales of laughter erupted out of his throat.

Once his laughing died down, he slowly rose to his feet, his eyes still closed. After standing fully, the knight opened his eyes. Instead of the usual dark, mysterious brown, his eyes were colored a sickly yellow, with the inner rings colored a fiery red. He brought up his helmet, still gripped in his off-sword hand, and slowly placed it on his head. When he did so, his long blonde hair was washed over with a deep hue, as red as the blood he had spilled.

His armor, a traditional suit of silver worn by countless knights, began to twist and change. It swirled and changed, becoming something twisted and evil. Instead of the classical curves, fitting the knight's form, it became hard and angled. The shiny silver tint was also replaced with a deep, powerful purple.

Another effect of the blade was becoming apparent, as his right hand began to become twisted and sickly from the constant exposure to the energies of Soul Edge. His hand had already been altered to the point where instead of fingers, he had three claws, topped with wicked talons and his skin had turned a ghastly green.

"There's…no turning back" he said to the grisly camp around him. He immediately took notice of the fact that he had never once released Soul Edge. He felt relief at this realization, and could not bear the idea of ever being separated from the sword.

"Sword, give me strength!" he shouted, sweeping the blade around him and thrusting it straight up in the air. The sword flashed with energy and sent an evil surge through the warrior, stripping away the last vestiges of Siegfried, and leaving only the sword's will behind.

His gang had called him Nightmare, a nickname, but at that very moment he truly became Nightmare, the terror of the world.

The sword's possession of Siegfried was complete, though it chose to only direct the man's will. It only allowed him to think what it wanted him to, and nothing more, while imbuing him with its knowledge, needs and desires. Nightmare instantly knew what he needed to do to become complete, and gain enough power to avenge his father.

He had to track down the broken shards of Soul Edge and assimilate them back into the sword itself. When the sword was whole again, everything would be set right. By becoming one with the sword, Nightmare was able to sense the intense evil that usually indicated the general locations of the fragments. Using this ability, he immediately set out to bring together the doom of the world.

The dark knight strode the land, always moving towards any evil he sensed, and nearly always finding a shard at his destination. He was not hampered by any concerns of a normal person, for Soul Edge took away any need he had to rest, eat, or do any other human functions. As he moved about, his goals changed a bit, now he realized that all the shards would not be enough. He also needed souls, numerous souls, to feed into the sword.

Because of the additional need, Nightmare slowed his march toward each target, and took time to annihilate anyone in his path on the way. He laid waste to entire villages, killing everyone in them. Each soul the sword gorged on added to its power, but the sword thirsted for stronger souls, and pure souls.

Nightmare came across the occasional warrior that quieted the hunger a small bit, but no one that was truly powerful enough to satisfy him.

After gathering a half dozen shards, Nightmare found himself marching across a plain of rolling hills and near waist high grass. He was somewhere in central Europe, or possibly as far south as Italy. He did not know nor care, geography was no longer his concern.

All he did care about was his immediate surroundings. The gentle hill country was dotted with a few sporadic trees springing up from various hilltops, and the spaces in between offered nothing else to see than a sea of green. There were no cities here, not even a lone homestead, just an empty, wild land.

Nightmare preferred this kind of setting. Yes, any of his victims could see him coming a long way off, but it also offered no hiding places for them to cower into. Nothing could separate him from his quarry other than distance, and that is something Nightmare can quickly dispose of with his demonic endurance.

His quick step across the plains was suddenly stopped when Nightmare sensed a very powerful presence appear out of nowhere very close by.

"Show yourself!" Nightmare commanded to the empty plains, looking all about trying to find this new threat.

Only silence responded to Nightmare's command, annoying the dark knight a great deal. He tried to focus and get a read on the direction this presence came from, but could not. All he could tell was that it was close by, no more than twenty feet.

A rustle of grass off to Nightmare's left broke the silence just as effectively as any scream could. Nightmare immediately reacted by shoving his sword into the spot with all his might. No squeal pierced the air, nor did he feel any kind of impact other than the meeting of steel and soil.

Nightmare drew his sword back, confused and angered. He peered into the spot he just struck, and felt around it with his foot. There were no holes, or any other means of escape. He did not hear any other movement, so it couldn't have gotten away. But then again, it should not have been possible for whoever it was to get as close as they did in the first place.

Another rustle of grass to Nightmare's right and several yards away drew the dark knight's attention. He whirled around, gripping Soul Edge in both hands in an offensive stance. Once again, there was no one in sight.

Nightmare began forward, his irritation growing to a raging anger. The rustling stopped, and the presence suddenly disappeared. A second or so later the presence reappeared, and the grass rustled another several yards beyond the last spot.

Whoever it was shaking the grass obviously wanted to play with Nightmare. He was not one for games, and was determined to catch the powerful jokester and consume their souls after he punished them for toying with him.

He marched forward, and every time he came close to the last spot that rustled, the presence blinked in, rustled a new spot of grass, and blinked out. Nightmare moved faster and faster, trying to catch up, but unable to do so.

The presence was extremely fast, and with each passing moment, Nightmare believed it was extremely powerful. His lust for this potent soul drove him to single minded frenzy.

The chase continued for days, though how many Nightmare could not say. He barely even noticed the changing of day to night in his relentless pursuit. As the chase continued, the presence allowed itself to be more deeply felt. It was steeped in evil, it was the soul of one who had willingly given themselves to the darkness. It was not as powerful as Nightmare, but was more powerful than anything he had encountered.

On the morning of the third day, maybe even the forth day, the presence disappeared, and the trail went instantly cold. Nightmare stood waiting and listening, but no further indicators appeared.

After a few more moments, it was clear that the presence was gone. Enraged beyond compare, Nightmare roared, a ghastly, malicious sound. The sky seemed to shrink in fear, and the wind died, slain by the killer sound.

When the war cry had torn out of the area and left only silence behind, Nightmare took the time to survey his surroundings. He was still on the plains, but the land in front of him was charred black, burned away by a massive fire. He was facing east, and straight ahead, lying under the withering rising sun was a burnt out shell of a town.

The town had been razed the same as the plains, and Nightmare recognized the place as one of the towns he destroyed to obtain a shard of Soul Edge. The presence had led him here, but he was not sure why. He had left no one alive in the town, and there was nothing else here for him.

Just before Nightmare turned to move away and back towards the southern coast once again, it became clear why he was led here. Around the burnt out hulls of buildings emerged numerous soldiers.

The sun glinted off of scores of polished armors, and the sound of clanking metal filled the air. Swords and shields were immediately brought to the ready, and the soldiers moved quickly into formation on the field between the town and Nightmare.

The group was obviously an army, not just a band of local authorities. Apparently Nightmare had earned the attention of very high powers. They were surely investigating the path of destruction Nightmare had left, and now they had the misfortune of coming face to face with the destroyer himself.

The presence had led him here on purpose, probably intending the army to destroy Nightmare. Whoever it was wanted to possess Soul Edge, but it would take much more than an army to separate the dark knight from his blade.

Nightmare knew he had to slay the force, or else they would be reinforced and hound him constantly. Besides that, soldiers were usually strong souls, not as strong as some of the solitary, roaming warriors, but strong enough to make the battle well worth his time.

One of the soldiers, apparently a Captain or Commander, scurried about shouting orders to the men. They all fell in and lined up in block formations, several rows of swordsmen in the front, and a single row of six archers carrying the rear. When every soldier settled into place, there was a total of four different blocks, somewhere around ten rows deep.

About two hundred and forty men began to march across the charred plains towards the lone Nightmare. It was not a fair fight by a long shot, and all parties involved knew it. Only the soldiers were foolish enough to think they had the upper hand.

As the soldiers moved deeper into the plains, Nightmare began to stride forward as well. He could feel their fear no matter how they tried to hide it. They were right to fear, and Nightmare was about to live up to his name once again.

As soon as Nightmare was close enough to the army to be in range of the archers, the commander ordered the army to stop, and had the archers unleash a hail of arrows. Nightmare slowed his pace only a small bit, and drew Soul Edge around to the right, and held it down below his hip with both hands. As the arrows reached him, he swung the sword hard and high, with the blade sideways, exposing the breadth of the sword to the arrows.

His timing was perfect, and the arrows that would have pierced him instead slammed into the cold steel of Soul Edge and shattered into wispy, harmless splinters that fell to the ground. The archers had not waited to see the results of their attack, reloading and firing as a group as fast as they could.

Another volley closed in on Nightmare just as soon as he disposed of the first. He was still slightly off balance, with Soul Edge off to his left. He did not have time to bring his sword to bear again, so instead he released his right hand from the hilt and threw it back around him in a backhand blow, once again smashing the arrows that were bearing down on him.

Nightmare charged forward, and under the next volley. The archers compensated, and fired shorter in front of him, hoping to prevent him from running again. Nightmare did not charge, but instead brought Soul Edge up in front of him, and began to spin it around his body.

The massive sword swooped past each side of Nightmare's head in succession, spinning wildly but yet always under the dark knight's control. The blade effectively became a whirling wall, destroying the arrows as they intersected its path.

The archers and all the soldiers stood in awe, watching the blade spin. With the size of Soul Edge, there was no way that anyone could do what Nightmare was doing. Such a maneuver might not have been impressive if he was wielding a bamboo rod instead of a massive zwiehander.

When Nightmare ended his impressive sword spin display, he was very close the soldiers, too close for the archers to mass fire at him. One archer came to his senses quicker than the rest of the army, and stepped out of formation and loosed an arrow directly at Nightmare.

Right as the tip of the arrow reached Nightmare's armored chest, the dark knight snatched the arrow out of flight. He inspected the tip, a well sharpened piece of metal. Satisfied with his inspection, Nightmare quickly drew the arrow back behind him and threw it at the archer with all his might.

The projectile flew true, and tore through the man's throat, right above where his chest plate started. The arrow did not stop there, instead the force of Nightmare's throw carried it through the soldier's throat, and emerged out the back. The arrow flew on and impaled itself on the wooden remains of a door frame several yards behind the group of soldiers.

Surprise lit up the archer's face, as he realized that a gaping hole had appeared in his throat. He attempted to speak, but nothing but a gurgling breath emitted from the wound. As soon as he failed at his attempt to make a sound, he crumpled to the ground, and life fled him.

This inspired action into the rest of the group. The soldiers immediately fanned out and surrounded Nightmare. They closed in, swords at the ready. Nightmare smiled to himself, reveling in the coming battle.

At first, the soldiers only jumped forward in small packs of four to five at a time. Nightmare whirled about, swinging Soul Edge with abandon. Soldiers were split in two, or choked by Nightmare's gauntlet clad fists. The dark knight made sure death came to every soldier that dared approach.

Once nearly half of the army had fallen, the remaining force finally wised up. Instead of approaching in a small but constant stream of men, they realized that the only hope they had was to completely rush with every single man available. The commander shouted the order, and the entire remaining army charged.

Nightmare cut down several of the charging soldiers, but was overwhelmed. A little over one hundred armed soldiers piled on top of the dread knight, forcing him to the ground. For a few tense seconds, there was no movement from inside the massive pile of steel and flesh.

The silent moment was broken by a single, blood curling howl. With the force of an erupting volcano, soldiers were flung into the air, as the entire pile of men disintegrated. Bodies flew every which way, straight up, off to the sides, and every angle in between.

Nightmare tossed away the soldiers as if they were nothing more than dust covering his armor. He then struck at the rain of men falling around him, slaying several before they ever hit the ground. The remaining soldiers that were able to avoid the dark knight's attack and scramble to their feet immediately charged back into the fray. Only by pressing the attack could they have any chance at victory.

The dark knight was done playing with these fools. As the soldiers charged at him, Nightmare called forth all his might and swung Soul Edge. The blade impacted into the scores of men, and tossed them away like rag dolls. Soldiers flew through the air once again, the force of the blow sending half a dozen of them at least twenty feet into the air.

The soldiers could not afford to stop the attack, so they continued to charge at Nightmare, and continued to fly off to their doom. Within moments, there was no one left to charge the dark knight, and the battle was over.

Nightmare wandered about the charred field, and killed anyone he came across that still drew breath. Soul Edge had gorged itself on each soul that died by its blade, and was satisfied, at least for the moment.

Nightmare reveled in the sight of the battlefield, with some two hundred bodies littering the burnt ground. Blood flowed like water across the entire field, crimson mixing with the blackened landscape. He had gained a great deal of power, and was much closer to obtaining what he needed to avenge his father.

The glory of the battle was almost enough for him to forget the annoyance of the presence that led him here. He would find and kill that person, whoever they were, but because they had led him to such a glorious fight, he might just kill them quickly.

His gloating thoughts of death and souls were interrupted by a new presence in the area. Movement caught his eye, off to his far left. Nightmare turned, and peered into the distance. A good stretch away stood a small clump of short, twisted trees. Standing by one of the trees was a young woman, clad all in green. She seemed to be watching intently, but not making any aggressive moves towards him. Nor did she run away either.

This girl was not the same presence he felt in the grass. She was powerful, that he could tell, but not on the same magnitude. She was tainted as well, a deep and dark evil swirling inside of her.

Something about her presence resonated within Nightmare. He felt something familiar about her. Instantly an idea sprang to mind, he would spare her life for now, if she dedicated herself to serving him. He needed someone to help him track down the remaining shards while he searched for the presence in the grass.

With this thought in mind, Nightmare began towards the knotted clump of trees to either gain a new apprentice or a new soul to consume.


	8. Murder Of Ravens

_Another chapter up, I hope it's enjoyable. Next go round will return to Nightmare as he tries to discover just who is following him in the grass. _

_R&R please, and I hope to see ya back soon!_

Murder Of Ravens

Tira's search for a new master was not going well. She had ran from town to

town, but found no one worthy of her. With each passing day, she became more and more frantic.

Luckily her bloodlust was more than satisfied, for the road was littered with bandits that she could slaughter mercilessly, and without fear of repercussions. She enjoyed the thrill of being pursued, but did not want to constantly worry about it.

She slept out in the open, and away from the towns. She did not feel comfortable being so close to others while she was sleeping, at least not without a master to watch over her. She knew someone out there was after her, and she couldn't risk being asleep and easy to find at the same time.

Food was not much of a problem either, she was able to get what she needed from the bandits she killed. This left her able to dedicate the entirety of her money to buying her new obsession: chocolate.

In each town she would buy up as much of it as she could, and greedily consumed it as quickly as possible. She couldn't understand how she had survived without the dark, creamy delight for her whole life.

After eating her fill, she would make her way to the local gathering place, usually a tavern, and search for someone strong enough to call master. She never found that person, but instead found nothing but weak warriors and old farmers.

Several weeks into her flight, she heard rumors of Nightmare, a dread knight that was terrorizing the countryside to the south. He was said to be a demon, a monster wielding a sword larger than most men, and able to slay an entire army with just a glance.

Tira tingled with excitement, knowing that this is one she had been seeking. She knew she had to meet this Nightmare, and convince him to allow her to learn from him. She was not bothered in the least that he was said to be a merciless killer. If he took her life she could accept that, for it was better to be dead than to be without a purpose, and the only purpose she had was killing.

Tira learned that Nightmare was terrorizing the Italian countryside, and she quickly set out to find the dark knight. Though she was not experienced with animals, she stole a horse and rode east and south as fast as she could.

Once that she reached Italy, she easily found the path of destruction that Nightmare had left behind, almost like a calling card to anyone that dared to pursue him. Tira's horse finally died from exhaustion, and she continued on foot.

A few days later, as Tira wandered the grassy plains, she heard the faint sounds of a battle carry in the wind. She quickly ran as fast as she could in the direction of the sound.

She soon reached a small clump of trees overlooking a charred field. Down in the field was a small army of soldiers engaged in a heated battle with a lone warrior. The warrior was covered in a deep purple armor, and wielded a huge sword. He swung the sword about with ease, as though it was nothing at all.

As Tira watched, what was left of the army was charging the knight. The warrior swung his blade around, and the soldiers were tossed away like rag dolls. They flew through the air, gaining impressive heights and distances.

Tira was extremely impressed, and knew she had found the dark knight she was seeking. She was strong enough to knock people off their feet with her blows, but she had never seen anyone capable of literally sending their foes flying like this knight was.

The battle ended, and the knight stood for a moment, and took in the carnage he had created. Then, he snapped towards her, and his burning gaze washed over Tira. She could feel his power even in his gaze, and she drank it in, shuddering with ecstasy. The knight began towards her, and she could barely contain her excitement.

When the knight reached her, she was amazed at the size of his sword, and fascinated by the blinking eye set in the hilt. His sharp, jagged armor was stained with the blood of the soldiers, as was his sword. His right hand was not a hand at all, but instead a large claw, with two bony protrusions straining to reach back to his elbow. His crimson hair blew in the wind, and his yellowish eyes glowed inside his helmet. At that moment Tira could not imagine a man looking more perfect.

"Who are you? Speak fast before I kill you" the knight grumbled.

"I am Death, but you can call me Tira" she answered masking her excitement with a look of extreme annoyance.

"Then I will be the Nightmare that kills Death!"

"Wait, I can help you, Nightmare" Tira said, fear gripping her suddenly and tightly, raising her excitement even more.

Nightmare stood still, allowing Tira a brief moment to plead for her life.

"You are looking for shards of metal right? Special shards, parts of that sword you are carrying right?" Tira chattered.

"What of it?" Nightmare glowered at the young warrior.

"I can help you find them! Two of us will find them twice as fast, right?"

Nightmare seemed to be deep in thought, and did not move to immediately reject the idea.

"All I want in return is to learn from you, for you to show me how to be as powerful as you are." Tira said, becoming more confident.

"Very well. Serve me well and I will let you live. Fail me and I will consume your soul."

"I am yours, body and soul, master" Tira said, bowing to the ground.

"Rise" Nightmare commanded.

Tira complied and stood in front of her new master with quivering pride. Nightmare reached to her and grabbed her shirt. With one swift motion, he ripped the garment up, exposing her supple breasts.

Instead of moving to kill Nightmare, Tira allowed the dark knight to do as he pleased with her. He was her master, and he was so powerful she was willing to let him do whatever he wanted with her. In fact, she yearned for him to take her, and fill her with his dark essence.

She was disappointed, however, for Nightmare was now beyond lust or sexual desires. Instead Nightmare pushed his claw against her chest, between her breasts, and imparted a small piece of his power into the young warrior.

Tira stumbled and fell to the ground, shocked and overwhelmed by the deep evil she had been granted. She coughed and hacked, her body trying to expel the darkness that had entered her. After a few moments she was able to regain her composure, and she slowly stood.

She pulled her shirt down, still a bit hurt by the fact Nightmare did not ravish her. Suddenly she became aware of some strange sensations. Somewhere in her mind, she could feel things around her. She came to grips with her new sense and realized exactly what she was experiencing.

The ability to sense dark energies had been granted to her. She could sense the enormous evil of Soul Edge and Nightmare right in front of her. She could also sense darkness to the south, and a few faint dark spots to the northwest and east.

"I have given you the power to sense the fragments of Soul Edge. You will go retrieve them and bring them to me, or I will kill you."

"Yes, master. Thank you for this gift" Tira answered, turning to begin her new quest.

"Wait. There is more" Nightmare commanded.

Tira paused, wondering what else there could be.

"I have also granted you the power to call on the ravens, to aid in your search. They will be your eyes, so you can scout for the shards. Think of them and they will come. Now go, and do not disappoint me!"

Tira nodded and dashed off to the south. As she ran, she thought of ravens, and a murder of the dark birds appeared in the sky, swooping all around her. A few moments of concentration and Tira discovered she could gain the sight of the birds, and see things from their perspective.

Tira continued south until she reached the coast, where she learned of a pirate band that was terrorizing the seas. The rumors spoke of a ghost ship, with a zombie captain that carried a short sword made of living steel. When Tira heard this, she knew it was the fragment of Soul Edge she was searching for.

Tira knew she had to get on the ghost ship, and searched for a way to do so. She found a port town, and made her way to the docks. Three large ships were being loaded with good to be taken to the southern coast. Along with the larger vessels was a single, much smaller ship being loaded with various smaller crates.

It took little effort to board the small ship, as security for this vessel was much more lax than any of the others. Tira nestled herself in the ship's hold, among the various crates, and waited for the inevitable.

With her newly gained powers, Tira reached out, and felt the evil she sought. She called to it, taunted it, begged it to come for her. Much to her delight, she felt the evil growing stronger, indicating it had taken the bait.

It only took a couple of days for the zombie captain's ship to run them down. The ghostly pirate ship struck on sunset of the third day, sending the crew of Tira's ship in to utter frenzy. Sailors ran to and fro, and Tira finally revealed herself to the crew. No one had the time to stop and question a stowaway, not with a pirate ship bearing down on them.

Tira made her way to the port side rail of the ship, and glared hard out across the water at the approaching vessel. Her eyes sparkled with a mixture of anticipation and determination. As she watched, she caught sight of her quarry.

The evil energy was emanating out of a towering man that stood directly on the bow of the approaching ship. He was wearing a traditional pirate's uniform, complete with a captain's hat. The whole thing was done in a drab grey, as hopeless as the fog swirling around him. His skin seemed to be a dead bluish grey as well, as lifeless as any corpse. A thin line of facial hair covered his upper lip and ran down and terminated at his jaw line. His eyes glowed a bright white, with no visible pupils or other markings, giving him an even more ghostly air.

As Tira stood glaring at the pirate, he lifted his arm, and pointed a twisted, evil looking short sword directly at her. Tira allowed a wicked smile to curl up the edges of her mouth briefly before she darted away from the railing to prepare herself for the coming battle.

She hid herself in the Captain's quarters, so that she could easily burst through the door and be back out on deck, and hopefully gain the advantage of surprise on her adversary. She listened intently as the crew tried to steer their small vessel away from the oncoming pirate ship.

It was hopeless, the pirate's ship was just too fast. A moment before the two ships collided, she heard a sailor scream.

"Oh God! It's Cervantes!"

_Hmm…Cervantes. At least now my victim has a name _Tira thought to herself smugly.

The impact of the collision threw Tira to the floor of the sparely decorated quarters, and the entire ship seemed to shudder with pain.

Shouts tore through the sea air, along with the clanking of battle. Quickly the shouts were replaced by screams. Tira listened intently, looking for just the right moment to pop out and attack.

"Burn to ashes!" a deep gruff voice called out, obviously belonging to Cervantes.

Tira then heard a wet, squishy sound, and the death grunt of the sailor Cervantes was attacking.

The pirate moved to be just beyond the door of Tira's hiding place, and Tira knew the time to strike had come. Taking in a deep breath, Tira charged the door, and smashed through it. As she passed through, she launched herself into a head first dive at the pirate, her ring blade jutted out in front of her.

Cervantes was caught slightly off guard, but not enough to give Tira any advantage. He quickly moved to the side, out of the path of the flying assassin. Tira pushed her ring blade into the deck, and gracefully curled around the top of the blade, keeping high enough up to avoid cutting herself.

She rolled through the movement, her back pressed against the deck, and came to her feet. She then whirled about, facing Cervantes. She shoved her ring blade into the deck once again, only this time the blade was perpendicular to her body.

She jumped through the hole, twisting her body around with no small amount of flair. As she came out the side closest to the pirate, she extracted her blade, and whirled it around her body. The ring blade spun and twisted so quickly it was difficult to tell just exactly what movements she was performing to reach the results.

The end of the flashy display had Tira standing with her left side forward, and her ring blade up at her chest. Her right hand gripped the back of the blade about center, and her left, high up, almost raised above her. Though she stood still, she gyrated her hips front to back, to keep herself prepared to strike or parry.

"Kneel before me!" Cervantes growled, holding his two short swords in an aggressive stance.

The shorter of the two blades caught Tira's eye. It was covered in blood and pulsed with evil energy. The entire sword itself was a shard of Soul Edge. That explained why the evil was so strong, and explained why she was about to engage a living corpse.

"I'm going to kill you now, okay? No point in dragging it out, right?" Tira said with bubbling enthusiasm.

Cervantes replied with a quick jab forward with his smaller blade, aiming directly for Tira's heart. The young assassin nimbly dodged the blow to the left, and slammed the flat side of her ring blade against his arm, intending to knock the sword from his hand.

Cervantes did not fight the blow, but instead allowed it to give him momentum. He turned with the force, and brought his large sword up, and pointing forward. He spun around and attempted to impale Tira.

Tira saw the blade coming, and quickly turned to block. She pulled her ring blade around on the side closest to the pirate, and slammed it into his attacking arm, up high by his shoulder.

The attack was stopped, but much to Tira's amazement, his arm remained attached to his body. Her razor sharp blade failed to even penetrate his clothing. Tira stood in shock for a moment, allowing an opening for Cervantes to attack.

The pirate spun back around the other way, bringing the small blade in an arc at Tira's back. The blade landed squarely in between Tira's shoulders, and threw the young warrior forward and to the deck.

Cervantes charged Tira even before she landed. The young assassin recovered her senses quickly and took advantage of the pirate's reckless charge. She did not rise, but instead snaked her foot out and caught Cervantes' ankle, and pulled up towards her body hard.

The pirate landed hard on the deck, and Tira immediately kicked her legs around in a whirl, giving her the momentum to spring to her feet. Cervantes did not jump up as quickly, giving Tira a moment to gloat.

"Does it hurt? Really? Tell me it hurts!" She exclaimed breathlessly.

Cervantes made his way to his feet, and glared at Tira, his pure white eyes glowing with a ghastly hunger.

"Not good enough!" Cervantes roared before charging towards her once again.

Tira met his incoming charge, deflecting his dual short swords away with ease. She then brought her blade around, thrusting it straight forward. Cervantes parried the attack, and countered with a wild swing of his own.

Slipping under the swing, Tira tried again for Cervantes feet. He was prepared this time, and pulled his foot up before she could grab it. He then thrust it back down at her, forcing her to resume a higher attack pattern.

Cervantes began raining down a flurry of blows against the young warrior, but Tira was able to fend them all off. Her parrying kept her locked into a defensive posture, and did not allow her many chances to attack.

Each attack she threw was easily countered by the pirate, and the battle continued on at a frantic pace. Left, right, high, low, the attacks from the pirate seemed to come from everywhere.

Cervantes feinted with his left, drawing Tira to guard with her ring blade on that side, only to be met with empty air. He then swung his right hand upwards with a great deal of force. He had the blade of the sword turned out from Tira, for his intention was a punch, not a cut.

The blow connected with Tira's chin hard, rattling her skull and completely breaking her focus. The punch carried her up, as the full force of the undead pirate's strength flowed into her. She flew up into the air several feet. Cervantes jumped up and grabbed Tira from the air.

"Stop struggling!" Cervantes shouted, throwing Tira back down to the deck of the ship.

The wind was knocked out of Tira from the fall, and she did not rise from the deck. Cervantes approached her and began kicking her in the ribs as hard as he could. Tira shuddered and coughed with each blow. She finally began trying to get up, and Cervantes stopped his attacks, eager to watch her struggle against the inevitable.

Tira stood and stumbled about, her head clouded from the force of the blows she had taken. She shoved her ring blade out towards the pirate, but he sidestepped it easily and slapped her across the face hard with his swords.

She stumbled back, dazed again. Recovering, she began to move to strike again, only to be interrupted by Cervantes punching her again. Twice more Tira moved to attack, and twice more Cervantes countered her.

The pirate finally tired of his taunting, and he drew back for one final blow. He put his hands together, bringing his two weapons side by side, and swung them forward hard. The attack connected with Tira's face, splitting open her lip, blacking her eye, and calling forth a flood of crimson blood from her nose.

Tira was lifted from her feet, and flew backwards, crashing into the wall right beside the door she had emerged from to start this fight. As she sat with the wall holding her up, and blood flowing down her face, she began to realize she was going to lose the fight. She was going to die. The thought was somehow comforting, for it meant the buzzing in her head would stop. The mood swings, the crazy behavior, everything she hated about herself would be gone. She stared blankly at the pirate, awaiting her fate.

Cervantes stepped forward, leering over his prey, intent on taking his time before disposing of her. He released his two swords and crossed his arms. The two swords did not fall to the deck, but instead began to orbit around his waist, held aloft by some unseen force.

"Come with me to Hell!" the pirate cackled, laughing.

_Ravens! _Tira thought to herself as the last ditch idea came to her. She could not just lose for the sake of losing. If she was going to die, the pirate would have to take her life from her, she never gave anything to anyone.

She closed her eyes and thought of the dark birds, and immediately a murder of the black wings of death appeared in the sky. They swooped down on the pirate, pecking and flapping. One of the ravens snatched the smaller blade from its orbit around Cervantes, and flew to Tira, dropping the sword in Tira's lap.

Tira grabbed the blade, and with a thought commanded the ravens to block Cervantes line of sight so he could not react to her motions. The ravens obeyed and she threw the blade with all her might at the pirate.

The blade flew true, slicing through the air. At the last possible moment, the raven flock shot out of the way, and disappeared into the black night. When Cervantes saw the blade, it was already too late. The sword buried itself in his grayish forehead, right between his glowing white eyes.

He stopped, and tried to look up at the new horn he had just been granted. He started to reach for it slowly, but did not complete the movement. He instead fell backwards to the deck, and the glow fled his eyes.

Tira stumbled to her feet and moved to the fallen pirate. She stared down at his body, greatly annoyed that the zombie captain did not bleed for some reason.

"Hurt much? Oh, I guess you can't hear me anymore" Tira spoke to the pirate's dead ears.

Cervantes' body suddenly burst into flames, causing the assassin to jump back in surprise. The fire did not come from anything around him, but instead something inside. Within a matter of seconds, the pirate burned completely away, leaving nothing but ashes and his two weapons behind.

The larger of the swords he carried was nothing more than a normal blade, and Tira quickly kicked it over the side of the ship. The second blade was of course a shard of Soul Edge, and Tira was quick to grab it from the dark wooden deck.

The blade was covered in what looked like blood, but was not. It seemed to be made of living steel, and somehow had almost a throbbing to it. The piece of Soul Edge was filled with unbelievable amounts of energy. Cervantes had been feeding his shard with souls, and the shard was all the stronger for it.

Her master was going to be very pleased with her for retrieving the blade. Tira was overcome with excitement, and began to giggle and jump up and down.

"Master Nightmare's gonna love me! Master Nightmare's gonna love me!" the assassin chanted and clapped.

She placed the small sword in her belt, and gathered up some supplies for the trip back to Nightmare. Not only did she have the joy of finding a large piece of the devil sword, but she also found a box of chocolate in the captain's quarters. It had turned out to be a really great day for the young warrior.

Luckily Cervantes had a small boarding ship on his boat, big enough for a handful of men, but still small enough to be managed by a single sailor. Tira loaded it up and boarded it. After a few moments she figured out how to work the sail, and turned her small boat back towards the coast and her dark master beyond the shores.


	9. Gods And Devils

_Another chapter straight from my twisted mind to the magical, digital 'paper'. In this chapter, Nightmare faces off a pair of threats. Will the two young women stop his quest, or will he toss them aside lightly?_

_One of the characters pulls a slide move, ya know where you run forward and press kick (I think), the cheesy ring out move. My daughter just loves doing that, over and over, even when it doesn't work, so that little bit is homage to her and her cheapo fighting tactics. _

_Next time we will catch up with Talim as she runs into a mysterious old man carrying a blue weapon. We're starting into the home stretch now, only a handful of chapters left till the big finale!_

Gods And Devils

Nightmare was quite pleased at gaining Tira as an apprentice. He had no intention of teaching her anything at all, but he did fully intend to use her to his own ends. He was not sure why he allowed her to live. Maybe it was the last vestiges of Siegfried showing through the sword's will. Maybe the last bits of humanity that Nightmare carried inside himself was attracted to her, and wished to be with her. Regardless, her life would not extend beyond her usefulness.

The fact that she was serving him did allow him to turn to the task of tracking the presence in the grass that had led him to the battle against the army. While Nightmare knew a sizeable shard lay to the south, the presence was even more steeped in the darkness, and likely in possession of a considerable chunk itself.

The next morning after Nightmare had sent Tira away, the presence in the grass once again revealed itself. Once again it was several feet away, just beyond the dark knight's range. The presence was just as strong, and appeared just as suddenly.

Nightmare did not strike out at the movement, knowing his attack would be futile. Instead he moved towards the sound, guessing that the situation would play out as it had before.

He was correct, and the presence moved once again, and the chase was on. Nightmare knew that the presence would most likely lead him into another trap, but he had no choice but to take the bait. He had no way of tracking the presence otherwise. He decided that he would just follow the trail, and hope that the presence made a mistake.

The presence traveled quickly to the northeast, and led the warrior throughout the plains, and deep into a forest. Nightmare moved through the forest quickly, spending no more than two days traversing its dark depths.

Emerging on the other side, Nightmare found himself standing on the edge of a coastal plain, with the ocean glistening in the distance. He stopped for a moment, and took in his surroundings.

The rather flat land stretched before him, covered in short, stubbly grass. A small strip of white, glistening sand bordered the ocean from the green sea inland. As Nightmare stared across the plains, he noticed a strange discrepancy along the line of green right before it turned to sand.

With a bit more study, Nightmare realized that the flat land he stood on came to an abrupt end, leaving an imposing cliff. Though he did not move forward, he could tell that the cliff was very high, maybe as much as a hundred feet or more.

Suddenly, a figure appeared standing on the edge of the cliff. It was an older looking man, wearing a purple body suit type outfit. The material appeared to cling to his dead grey skin. He was completely bald, his head matching the cold grey color of the rest of his appearance.

His mouth and eyes were bound by dirty white strips that wrapped about his head. He should not be able to see, but Nightmare knew that the darkness in his soul provided him with infernal sight.

He wore katars on each hand, long steel claws similar to that of a cat. Each shard was around a foot long, and the tips were bent downward. There was no doubt that the weapons were wickedly sharp.

Nightmare did not know where he came from, or how he got there. It was not truly startling though, since he had chased this ghost across the countryside for a long time. The dark knight brought his sword to his side, eager to battle this elusive foe.

The man did not engage, but instead hissed at him. The sound was a wretched, raspy sound, like the wheezing of the dead. He then turned and leapt off the cliff with the grace of a cat.

Nightmare charged forward to the cliff's edge, and peered over, expecting to find the broken body of the strange man. His eyes were disappointed, however, for nothing but emptiness met his sight.

The man's presence appeared at the bottom of the cliff, though Nightmare could not see him. The presence moved forward, and streaked towards the coast before blinking out of existence.

Nightmare turned to find a way down and continue the pursuit. To his right was a sloping trail that looked at though it led to the lower plains. Before he could move towards the trail, he was stopped by the sight of a pair of women coming towards him.

"It's Nightmare! C'mon Sophitia, let's get him!" the one woman said to the other, pointing at the dark knight.

Both women were young, no older than their mid twenties. They both had golden hair and both carried a sword and shield.

"Wait Cassandra! We have to be careful!"

The one identified as Cassandra wore a light blue sleeveless top. A dark blue stripe ran down the center of the blouse. She also wore light blue shoulder length gloves. A deep chocolate leather belt wrapped around her waist, and her outfit was completed by brown, skintight pants and light blue shoes.

Sophitia wore a deep blue blouse, with an open neck deep enough into her cleavage to require lacing to cover her assets. Her sleeves were a pure white, and appeared to be attached by decorative metal disks. She wore a snow white skirt, not even long enough to reach half way to her knees, and the skirt itself featured a pair of navy blue stripes racing around the bottom near the hem.

Her outfit was completed by a pair of thigh high leather boots. Metal guards protected her feet from any attack. Her blonde hair was longer than Cassandra's short crop, and hung down her back in a long braid.

"Ugh! You're definitely not my type!" Cassandra exclaimed, raising her sword and shield to the ready.

Sophitia glared over at Cassandra. "Be serious sister! We mustn't let our guard down. Gods, guide us!"

"You wretched, pathetic humans! Offer your souls!" Nightmare growled, bringing Soul Edge up into his normal fighting stance.

The two girls began moving towards Nightmare slowly, fanning out in an attempt to flank the dark knight. Nightmare found himself with the cliff edge in front of him, the dense forest behind him, and a blonde woman on each side.

He preferred to keep this fight in the open, and not allow them to retreat into the forest. There was no doubt that he could defeat them both, but he did not want to waste time hunting for them. He wished to dispose of them quickly and continue chasing the old man.

The girls were satisfied with their positioning, and moved to attack the dark knight. Cassandra began to motion forward as though she was about to swing. Nightmare brought his sword up to block, but quickly noticed that she was not completing the motion, but instead a fake to grant Sophitia an opening.

Sophitia was right in tune with her sister and jabbed forward with her sword. Nightmare caught sight of the movement just in time to respond. He followed through in his motion to block Cassandra, but used the momentum to throw his feet off the ground. He kicked back hard with both his feet, landing them squarely on Sophitia's chin.

The young woman flew backwards, and crashed to the ground. As soon as Nightmare landed on the ground, he drew himself up into a crouching position, with Soul Edge resting on the ground directly in front of him.

Cassandra saw her sister fall, prodding her into charging headlong at Nightmare, just as he wanted. Right as she took a step to move to attack, Nightmare sprang up from his crouching position. He swung Soul Edge in a vertical arc up from the ground, smashing it into Cassandra with all deliberate force.

"Go away!" Nightmare shouted as he leapt up to complete the attack.

The blow lifted the young woman off her feet and into the air. She fell back slightly, and landed on her back with a deep thump. Since Nightmare had struck her with the top edge of the blade, she was spared any serious injury since that part of the sword had no sharpness. A deep bruise would remain, and had already begun to form under her blouse.

While this was happening, Sophitia had scrambled to her feet and began towards Nightmare. The dark knight sensed the sister approaching him, and as soon as he completed the motion from the attack against Cassandra, he immediately brought his sword around in a massive horizontal arc, spinning all the way around to face the ambushing woman.

Nightmare's blade was positioned at his hip, and was aimed at Sophitia's mid torso. The young woman was not caught off guard, however, and quickly rolled under the swinging blade. She then jumped up and landed on Nightmare's shoulders.

The dark knight was unable to respond, since he was still struggling to regain his balance from the missed blow. Sophitia did not tarry, instead took advantage of her opening. She quickly twisted her knees and legs, snapping Nightmare's head around. While she did not break his neck, she did cause him a great amount of pain.

With the movement completed, Sophitia dismounted the dark knight, throwing him back and downward at the same time. Nightmare fell to the ground, in shock from the pain.

Cassandra had recovered, and took note of the prone Nightmare. She swapped her sword around to where the blade faced down from her fist instead of up. She then jumped high into the air, and towards the dark knight. She slammed down into the knight with all her might.

Nightmare's infernally enchanted armor was exceptionally strong, but the force of the blow was enough to pierce through the cold metal. Cassandra's blade bit into Nightmare's flesh, but not far enough in to truly injure him.

The pain roused Nightmare, and awoken Soul Edge's anger. The sword poured its malice into Nightmare, driving him into a frantic frenzy. He then exploded in a rage, throwing Cassandra away like she was a rag doll.

"This is…the end!" Nightmare growled as he rose to his feet.

Sophitia attacked the dark knight, hoping to give Cassandra the chance to recover her breath. Nightmare was more than prepared for her, however, and quickly shot forward and grabbed the young woman by her throat.

"Got you!" He snarled as he tightened his grip, slowly choking the life out of Sophitia. The woman squirmed and struggled, but was unable to break his grip. Her feet dangled off the ground helplessly, and death seemed to be very near for her.

A thump vibrated the back of Nightmare's helmet and he quickly spun around to see what had struck him. Cassandra had thrown a rock, vying for his attention. Nightmare did not immediately release Sophitia, but instead held his grip steady and glared at the other sister.

"It's time for your punishment!" Cassandra declared very arrogantly, resuming her battle ready stance and bouncing softly from foot to foot.

Nightmare roared in anger, and tossed Sophitia away, sending her crashing into a tree on the edge of the forest adjoining the battlefield. He then turned back to Cassandra, and took notice that she was not all that far from the edge of the cliff.

He smiled inwardly to himself, and then charged the blonde warrior. She brought her shield up to defend herself, but was surprised when the dark knight did not swing. Instead he fell to the ground, his feet out in front of him. He allowed the momentum of his charge carry him through, and he struck Cassandra's ankles with a tremendous amount of force.

Cassandra was unable to counter the move, and instantly lost her balance. She was knocked back by Nightmare and quickly tumbled off the edge of the cliff behind her. As soon as she realized she was plunging to her death, she began to scream.

Nightmare listened to the beautiful sound of coming death, and nearly became ecstatic when the sound stopped suddenly and was replaced by a dead sounding thud. He rose and turned his attention back to the remaining sister who was still leaned up against the tree, coughing and hacking as she tried to recover her breath.

The dark knight was done with toying with his victims, and he was quite eager to resume his chase of the old man in purple. He drew back Soul Edge, and with all his might, which was more than considerable, threw the blade at Sophitia.

The sword sliced through air, flesh and wood with the greatest of ease. Not only did the blade cut Sophitia in two, but it also managed to chop down three trees behind her as well.

Nightmare walked out to retrieve his sword, and did not even pay Sophitia's body enough respect to step over it, instead he kicked each half to the side, and continued on.

At the bottom of the cliff, Nightmare took a moment to inspect Cassandra's broken body. The lust of the battle had finally fled him on his way down, and now he reveled a bit in his kills.

"Blood, darkness, come unto me!" He shouted into the quiet, salt laden air before making his way to the sandy coast.

The boat the sisters had used to travel to the mainland was still there, and it was a small craft, barely worthy of open sea travel. They had obviously chosen it because it could be so easily manned by the pair alone.

Nightmare sensed his prey once again, out at sea to the southeast. The old man's presence did not blink back out, but held steady. He had a considerable jump on Nightmare, but the dark knight was confident he could catch up.

The dark one had no idea where the old man was leading him, but so far he had overcome every obstacle the old man threw at him, so he was not much worried. He had all the time in the world if need be, and Soul Edge released his body from the usual human needs of sleep and eating.

Nightmare sailed for a handful of days in pursuit of the ever constant presence, before finally reaching a small island. The island was covered in green foliage. Trees rose up and littered the landscape. They were not so closely packed to constitute a forest or jungle, but more loosely clumped like an ideal retreat location.

The old man was at the heart of the island, Nightmare was sure. The thing he wasn't sure of, however, was why the old man had led him here. The place appeared to be uninhabited, but there was surely a trap awaiting the dark knight.

Nightmare jumped ashore from his small craft and began charging towards the source of the presence with little a thought or care. If he had realized that he was now on the old man's home turf, he might have chose to be more careful.

Nor did it cross his mind that the prey he stalked may well have been stalking him from the beginning.


	10. The Ultimate Sword

_Well, time for another installment of my little diddy here. It seems like it's been a long time since I've updated, but I know it surely can't be more than a month, if even that. My wife and I have spent the past two weeks moving, and that can really take it outta ya. Now, though, updates should come more regularly, since I've just had cable internet installed. Woot! No more dial up or going to my mom's house for net now! _

_This chapter is the longest one so far if I remember correctly. I had a lot of ground I wanted to get through with it, and just couldn't find a good breakpoint for splitting it into 2 chapters. Hope I don't give anyone eye strain._

_If the 'M' rating isn't enough, let me warn you again, this chapter deals with some adult situations. _

_Next chapter will catch us up with Nightmare as he chases the mysterious man (yeah, enough of that, we all know its Voldo heh). They will have a showdown on Voldo's home turf. Will a new master grip Soul Edge? Or will Nightmare cut down the creepy old man? Tune in next time, same channel! _

The Ultimate Sword

The coast was a beautiful shade of sandy white, with rolling green plains beyond. Talim sighed as she watched the land grow closer and closer, feeling the burden of her quest weighing deeply on her soul. She could not be shaken from her determination to rid the world of the evil sword, but she had to admit to herself that she was scared to death.

She turned her mind to her companion, and to the distressing situation that happened the night before.

Talim had been lying on the cold, hard deck in the cargo hold of the ship. The ship had no beds to spare for the women, instead the captain offered them a few blankets and an open spot on the floor.

The cargo hold was dark and damp, and filled with various crates of different sizes and shapes. A few large openings littered the floor, allowing the girls to pick a clearing in the center of the room for them to sleep.

Mina spread her blankets out a few feet away from Talim's and after a few minutes, the small kerosene lamps were blown out, and the pair settled down to get a bit of rest.

Talim heard a great deal of rustling in the inky darkness of the cargo hold, and she could not figure out just what Mina was doing. She sat up a little bit, and could barely make out the shadow of Mina standing and reaching around as if she was taking something off.

_Well, I guess this is the first time in a long time where we're safe enough to get comfortable _Talim thought to herself. She chose to sleep in her clothes like always, not wanting to risk being caught off guard, but surely understood why Mina felt safe enough to let her guard down.

Mina was apparently satisfied with whatever adjustments she was making in the dark, and her shadow dipped down out of sight as she lowered herself to the floor, and her makeshift bed.

The cargo hold was silent except for the lapping of the sea against the hull of the ship, and the occasional creak of the night crew quietly going about the business of sailing the ship. Talim listened to the sounds, allowing them to gently lead her to sleep.

Right as Talim was about to fall into slumber, a new sound fell on her ears. She heard a sliding, scraping like noise. It was enough to keep her from sleep, but not enough to rip her awake. She realized it was the sound of Mina's blankets sliding across the deck towards her.

The sound stopped, and Talim sensed that Mina was no more than a foot or two from her. She did not find it alarming, having put out of her mind the incident in the tent weeks ago. Her travels with Mina had shown her that the woman had a good heart, and Talim once again trusted her.

A few more moments passed in the darkness, and Talim once again tried to turn her mind to sleep.

"Talim" Mina whispered, drawing the young warrior once again away from the embrace of sleep.

"What?" Talim answered.

"I need to show you something. Let me see your hand" Mina said, groping in the darkness and finding Talim's hand.

Mina brought her hand up, and pulled it towards her. Talim did not resist, interested in what Mina could possibly want to show her.

Talim's hand made contact with something soft and supple. She felt around it a bit, trying to think of what it could be. Whatever it was, it was soft around the outside, and quite round.

Towards the middle was a ring that felt different, rougher in a way, but still gently soft. In the center of this new area sat a bump that felt almost like knotted cloth. The knot grew stiffer with each second Talim's hand was on it. Like a flash of lightning, Talim realized she was feeling Mina's breast, and was instantly embarrassed at her naivety.

She opened her mouth, a gasp escaping her throat. Before she could draw her hand away, Mina nearly pounced on her, pushing her shoulders down flat and leaned over her. Mina leaned over and planted her lips on Talim's and sent her tongue snaking into the young warrior's mouth.

Mina's lips were soft and gentle, but they worked at Talim with a fiery passion. Her tongue prodded around, twisting and turning. She tried desperately to stimulate Talim's tongue into dancing with hers, but was not met with any success.

Talim was still for a brief instant, shocked by what was happening, by the taste of Mina's kiss, and the pressure of Mina's bare breasts pressing against her. She regained her senses quickly, however, and with no small amount of force, threw the woman off her.

Talim quickly scrambled to her feet, grabbing her tonfas from under the ratty, dirty pillow that she had hid them under without thought. She backed up until her retreat was halted by several wooden barrels.

"What are you doing Mina?" she exclaimed, shocked to her core.

There was no immediate answer, instead after a few seconds a lamp winked on, bathing the cargo hold with a soft gentle light. Mina stood holding the lamp, completely nude, making no attempt to cover herself. The light caressed her curves, and danced across her ample chest. She stood in a seductive pose, her right leg slightly in front of her left, allowing nothing more than a small patch of curly brown hair peek out from where her legs met.

"Talim, there's no reason to fight our feelings. We should be together."

The young priestess found Mina's proposition to be a bit confusing. Though she was only fifteen, she was well aware of the differences between a man and a woman. She had never seen a male organ, except for accidentally walking in on her father while he was using the bathroom, but she did know exactly how it all worked. She knew how a couple made love.

Knowing that, knowing how the man must enter the woman, she could not see how two women could have anything to do with each other in that way, yet Mina seemed intently interested in showing her.

As these thoughts flashed through her mind, Talim shook her head violently.

"I have no such feelings. You are my friend, nothing more." Talim protested.

"Aw, is it your first time? I promise I'll be gentle."

Mina ran her right hand over her right breast, massaging it gently, and stepping forward with as much sexiness as she could muster.

Talim reached down to her hips, retrieving her tonfas and holding them up in front of her chest, the right one slightly higher than the left, in her normal fighting stance. The cold metal of the tonfas ran down her arms, nearly to her elbows, and the soft candlelight reflected off their smooth, polished surfaces.

"One more step, and I won't be gentle with you" Talim growled in warning.

Mina stopped dead in her tracks, a look of surprise spreading across her features. An instant later, the surprise was replaced with a look of pain, and dejection. Her right hand stopped between her breasts, as though she was clutching at her breaking heart. Tears began to well in her big brown eyes, and her lips quivered.

"Are you… rejecting me?" she asked in a whimper.

"I'm sorry, Mina. This is not my way. I cannot be with you in that way." Talim replied, slowly lowering her weapons.

Mina did not answer, but instead gave into her emotions, and burst into tears. She covered her face with her hands, and wailed deeply into them.

"Mina…" Talim said with a great deal of sympathy coloring her voice.

Mina continued her wailing, but dropped her hands from her face, and quickly gathered up her clothing. She struggled with it for a moment, building her frustration. She threw her arms down, still clinging to her halter top, which had become twisted up with her long flowing loincloth like dress. She screamed down at the garments, a tortured sound.

That bit of release allowed her to hold back her sobbing enough to get the clothing untangled, and she donned it without hesitation. She looked up at Talim one last time, tears streaming down her face, her eyes a deep well of pain. She did not say anything, but instead allowed her lingering glance to tell Talim everything she wanted to express.

Finally breaking the stare, Mina turned to the door and stormed out of the cargo hold, muffled crying following in her wake.

Talim stood stunned at what had just happened. She did not know how to handle the situation, or even what to do next. With a little thought, she decided it was best that she leave Mina be for the night.

The young priestess hoped that what had happened hadn't ruined her friendship with the woman, for Talim enjoyed Mina's company a great deal. Not only that, but Talim wanted Mina with her, since she was a considerable warrior. In their travels together, Mina had gotten Talim out of a tight spot more than once. Talim did not even want to think of how things might have turned out if Mina's halberd hadn't intervened at crucial moments.

Talim turned back to the room, and knew she could not sleep where she had intended. She did not think Mina would bother her anymore, and knew Mina had no malice in her heart, but Talim was nevertheless uncomfortable. She gathered her blankets and scanned the room for a new place to bed down.

Far in the upper right corner of the room was a stack of crates and boxes. Against the far wall was a small opening. The crates had been stacked away from the wall, or maybe the crates that were against it had made port sooner than the rest of the cargo. In front of the hole was a line of barrels, obscuring the interior of the alcove.

Talim knew this would be a perfect place for her. By being out of sight, she would feel much more secure. She nimbly made her way around the room, dodging crates left and right, and made her way back to the small area she had decided to claim. Hopping over the barrels with ease, she settled down, opting to sleep leaning up against the inner wall. She wrapped her blankets around her and allowed her mind to drift.

As she drifted off to sleep, she came to understand why Mina had thought what she did. All the time they had been traveling together, there were little things that the pair shared in that meant nothing to Talim, but apparently meant everything to Mina.

There had been hugs, jokes, and giggles. They had sat very close to each other many times. They had shared meals, even on occasion bathed in a stream simultaneously.

None of these things were out of place to Talim, for she did many of the same things with her best friend back home. Though she had serious duties, she was allowed to be a teenager, and act like teenager girls acted when not training.

Though Talim knew Mina was a good deal older than her, the woman's youthful beauty made it seem as though there were only a couple of years between them. This had made Talim think of Mina as though she was Talim's age.

The priestess now understood that all those things she had chalked up to just being a young woman were in fact for Mina flirtations. And Talim's behavior had been interpreted as a return of affection. Talim realized that, in a way, she had been leading Mina on.

Talim felt horrible about it, and decided that she should apologize to the woman in the morning, and try to explain everything. Maybe she could salvage their friendship and everything would work out. With this new goal in mind, sleep finally overtook the young warrior.

Talim's mind was snapped back to the present, with its view of the coast growing ever larger from the railing by which she stood. She turned slowly to her right, and saw Mina was approaching.

Mina walked slowly, her head cowered down in embarrassment and maybe even shame. Talim turned towards her, watching the warrior's slow approach with a measure of embarrassment and pity in her features.

"Talim, I just want to…" Mina started.

"No, let me let me go first." Talim interrupted.

Mina stopped and held her silence, indicating she would hear what Talim wished to say.

"Mina, I was thinking last night, and I realized that maybe I had given you the wrong idea. Everything that we have shared, well, none of it meant anything more than friendship to me. On this journey, you have become my best friend, and I was just being myself with you. Now I realize how you could have gotten the wrong idea.

"However, you should have shown more respect to me. Even if I was interested, stripping naked and forcing a kiss still would have been wrong."

Mina stared hard at the deck, like a small child being scolded. "Does this mean you don't want me to travel with you anymore?" she asked meekly.

"Of course I want you with me! You are my friend, Mina. As long as you respect my space and don't try anything like last night again, I don't see why we can't just continue on" Talim answered, injecting warmth into her voice.

Mina's face brightened considerably, and she clapped her hands in front of her chest in exuberation. "Thank you! Thank you! I promise that there won't be anymore things like last night."

Talim nodded. "And I want to say I'm sorry for giving you the wrong idea and everything."

"I'm sorry too, for… well, you know" Mina said, a touch of embarrassment resurfacing in her voice. "Are we good?"

"We're good" Talim answered, relieved that the situation looked to be over.

Mina threw open her arms and approached Talim slowly. Talim allowed herself a smile, and bit back her wariness. The pair embraced, though Talim made sure to keep her body as far away from Mina as possible.

The boat made dock late in the afternoon. The area was void of life, save for two large buildings set close to the actual piers themselves. One was obviously a storehouse for the goods being delivered, and men scurried back and forth from the ship to the building, unloading the crates and barrels from the lower decks. The second building was a tavern, a resting spot for the crew.

Because of the hour, Talim and Mina decided to stay at the tavern for the night and resume their travels in the morning. The tavern had fair enough accommodations, including a great deal of rooms, a full service kitchen, and of course a vast supply of liquor.

The room the duo stayed in was nicer than anything Talim had seen on the trip so far. It was a small room, with a single bed on each side, and no decorations of any kind to cover the natural wood grain. There was no furniture in the room, except for one small table, no more than a foot wide or deep, which held aloft a tin tub filled with water.

Talim settled down on the bed closest to the door, and closed her eyes, grateful that where they were staying was far enough away from the main hall of the tavern to muffle the boisterous noise the crew of her ship was making to celebrate another successful delivery.

With only the exchange of goodnights between the pair, Talim allowed herself to trust Mina again and eagerly set her mind to making up for the rest she had missed the night before.

The next morning, Talim learned from the barkeep that a knight had been terrorizing the land to the north, killing entire villages, and destroying everything in his path. Talim knew that this was the one she sought, and quickly roused Mina. Not even an hour later, the pair was once again on the hunt, and Talim knew her quest would soon come to an end.

The coastal plains gave way to a thick forest, which the pair streaked through, heading for a town with a name neither could pronounce. They made good time, walking briskly all day, and settling down at night only when they could no longer see where they were going. They rose in the morning at first light and pushed ahead.

As the duo continued, the forest thinned out, revealing larger and larger gaps between the clumps of trees. They were not far from the town, which was said to sit no more than a day's walk from the forest's edge. Talim drove herself ever onward, with each step more eager to end the quest than the last.

When the pair entered a meadow-like clearing, they were brought to a halt by the sound of rustling in the trees to the west. Talim listened to the wind, and it told her that there was someone nearby. Since they had not seen or heard a single soul the whole time they had been traveling through the forest, the likelihood of meeting another friendly traveler was quite low.

"What was that?" Mina asked warily.

"Someone's there" Talim answered, slowly reaching down and drawing her tonfas from their leather loops on her belt.

Mina noticed the action, and reached behind her head, drawing her halberd as well. Both warriors stood at the ready, straining their senses to discover the source of the rustling.

Suddenly an explosion of sound erupted from behind the pair, and as they turned, they were treated to the sight of a man flying down towards Mina, his sky blue staff streaking in an overhead chop.

Talim instinctively jumped back a few feet. Mina turned to meet her attacker, swinging her halberd in an upwards and to the side motion, blocking the blue staff, and causing it to strike the ground to her left instead of her head. The man wielding it appeared to be fairly old, and lingered just a brief moment in a hunched over pose, his staff still held firmly by the ground, crossing Mina's halberd.

Mina saw her opening, and took it. She pulled the halberd back to the right, freeing it from the man's weapon. She intended to connect the hilt of the polearm with his chin, but somehow the man anticipated her move.

As soon as Mina began her movement, the man dropped down and lunged at her feet. She did not expect this, and was too committed to her attack to counter. The man's sweep connected, and Mina tumbled to the ground unceremoniously.

The man instantly bounded to his feet, standing to Mina's left. He drew back his staff and shoved it hard at her, with a crosswise motion, aiming for Mina's right side. Mina swung her halberd longwise, parallel with her body, and from left to right, to deflect the blow.

Her movement served its purpose, and the man's staff slammed harmlessly into the ground by her side. The man was not fazed however, and instead leapt into the air, using his staff to carry him over Mina. As he landed, he twisted his body, and brought his knee off to the side, and under the staff. He pushed the staff forward a little as he completed his jump, lining it up between Mina's halberd and her body.

Mina instinctively pulled the halberd's shaft down towards her, exactly as the man wanted. Using the motion of his jump as energy, and his knee as a fulcrum, he pushed hard on the end of the staff. The shaft jerked hard up against Mina's halberd, and the weapon was torn from her hands, and sent spinning off behind the man. Shocked, Mina looked back to her left to call for Talim's help, only to see the young priestess launch herself in an attack of her own. Mina quickly tucked herself and flipped backwards in a roll, out of the way of her oncoming companion.

As soon as Mina had been knocked down, Talim began her charge. She threw herself forward, her right tonfa jutted out in front of her. The man had made his flip and disarmed Mina right as Talim approached. The man continued his motion as Mina's halberd flew away. He brought the staff around in a large loop from behind and under him, and readjusted his grip to its new facing. As the end of the staff came up in the circle he was making, he thrust it forward at Talim, catching her squarely in the stomach, and halting her advance instantly.

Talim fell backwards, the wind knocked from her. She landed on the ground on her back. Using the momentum of her fall, she continued rolling; flipping backwards heels over head, and erecting herself at the end of the maneuver.

The man did not hesitate, but instead lunged towards Talim, his blue staff held straight in front of him like a spear. Talim easily sidestepped the attack, spinning her body while she did so. She rolled along the staff, pivoting around with amazing speed. As soon as she was in range, she positioned herself so that she could bring her tonfas around with the force of her spin. Using all her might, she smashed her weapons into the knuckles that held the staff, causing the man to recoil in pain. As soon as his grip faltered, Talim continued the spin, and brought her foot up in a high kick.

Her shoe impacted with the man's chin hard, sending blood flying from his mouth. He crashed down to the ground, with the force of Talim's kick leading him. His staff dropped from his grip and bounced on the ground.

Talim only paused an instant to gauge just how quickly the man was going to return to his feet. When he did not bound up immediately, she reached down and grabbed the staff from the ground. With one hard heave, she sent the weapon flying away and behind her. She then jumped back a few feet, and watched the man closely, praying he did not pursue the fight any further.

Mina had retrieved her weapon, and had moved towards Talim as soon as she saw the man go down. The man was an incredible warrior, and Mina did not want to be far from her partner should the fighting resume.

Before moving to Talim's side, Mina shot to the man's weapon, and with two quick stabs, chopped the weapon into pieces. The staff was strangely blue all the way through, though it seemed to be made of wood. Mina did not dare take time to ponder the strange weapon, believing the man could put up quite a fight even unarmed.

As Mina reached Talim's side, the man struggled to his feet, blood still issuing from his mouth from Talim's kick. The pair finally got a good look at the man attacking him. He was barefooted, and dirty all over. Shredded dark brown pants covered his legs, held up by nothing more than a simple twist of rope. A white tunic draped his torso, so stained and soiled that it was barely recognizable as white.

His skin was brown and leathery, as though he had baked in the sun his entire life. His face was accented by a scraggly beard of dirty white hair that extended up all the way to his head. Grey tufts of unruly locks peaked out from under his large, traditional Chinese hat.

"Please, why are you attacking us? How have we wronged you?" Talim pleaded.

The man did not answer, but instead reached behind his head, and drew forth a blue katana. Somehow he had hidden a sword in the back of his shirt. Talim tried to wrap her mind around how he was able to move without the weapon being visible.

The man charged Talim, his sole attention appearing to be on her. As he approached, Mina thrust her halberd forward, trying to block his path. The man quickly stepped on the blade itself and leapt over, his forward advance unaffected.

Talim paused for a moment, allowing the man to reach her. Right as his blade was about to pierce her smooth, brown skin, she sidestepped and spun once again. The man was ready for this however, and swung his blade hard to the left, smashing the side of the blade into Talim's chest.

Though Talim stumbled backwards, the man did not have time to press his attack. Mina shot her weapon forward, aiming at the man's back. The man did a spin of his own, nimbly avoiding the attack.

Talim had enough time to recover from the sword's blow, though her chest still stung. She immediately closed in on the man, swinging her tonfas in an uppercut motion, one after the other. The man brought his sword around, and deflected her strikes. She continued to swing, keeping herself as close as possible to the warrior to capitalize on her short range advantage.

Strike and parry, back and forth the pair exchanged swings. Talim made sure to keep her rhythm up, hoping to allow Mina enough time to execute her long range, but very slow, attacks.

Mina thrust and swung, and each time, the man was able to fend off Talim, and remove himself from the targeted area. Frustration washed over Mina, causing her attacks to become more and more reckless.

One hard horizontal swing from the halberd sent Talim ducking for cover. When the man saw Talim cower down, he swung hard for her legs, forcing the priestess to flip backwards and away from the man, effectively disengaging her from the fight for the moment.

The man started towards Mina, and she decided to go all out, and see if the old man could handle her best moves. She gripped her halberd in the center, and begun spinning it about her body as hard as she could. The bladed staff whirled from the left side of her to the right, nothing more than a flurry of flashing steel and blood red staff.

"Try dodging this!" Mina exclaimed, advancing slowly with her spinning halberd.

The man did not dodge at all, but instead watched Mina closely. After a moment of observation, he lunged forward and stuck his blade into the whirling spin of Mina's weapon. Mina suddenly found her twirl stopped, and a blue blade rested between her hands, jutting towards her body.

Before she could react, the man pulled his blade upwards, slamming the top dull side of the blade into her fingers. Pain screeched through her hand and arm, forcing her to release her grip.

The man hopped, kicking up with his foot. The kick pushed the halberd up out of Mina's other hand, and into the air several feet. As soon as the man's foot landed, he jumped straight up again, and kicked Mina hard right in the chest.

Mina landed on the ground once again with a thud, and looked up just in time to see the man grab her falling halberd, and toss it to the side, away from her.

"Stay down, or I will kill you" the man grumbled, glaring down at her.

Seeing Mina fall again reinforced in Talim's mind just how much they were outclassed by this menacing old man. She decided that she would just do the best she could, and allow the Wind Goddess to decide her fate beyond that.

"Believe in yourself…Okay" Talim whispered to herself, clearing her mind for the task at hand.

She walked back towards the man, and once again engaged him in combat. Swings and parries, back and forth the pair fought. None of the man's blows landed on Talim, though several of hers found their marks. The man was not stopped by her attacks, but it was obvious he was taking a beating.

The fight was strangely not difficult for the young priestess. Her mind seemed to guide her body without thought. No matter how ferocious the attack, Talim either blocked or dodged them with ease.

Talim noticed that Mina just sat on the ground, watching the pair in amazement. Talim was glad, for she did not need the help, and the man had already gotten the best of Mina twice.

The man countered a blow from Talim, and inadvertently left himself wide open. Talim jumped high in the air, and kicked the man hard, one foot after another. The man stumbled backwards several steps before falling to the ground, obviously winded.

A moment passed and Talim did not approach, but instead just stood at the ready, not wanting to press the fight any further than the man wanted.

The man panted for a moment before raising himself up enough to address his opponent.

"You fight with such purity of heart, with no darkness or malice."

Talim did not respond, but instead kept vigilant in her watch over the man.

"I know who you are, Priestess Talim. I have been searching for you."

"Searching for me? Why? And if so, why did you attack us?" Talim asked, confused.

"I had to see if you were pure of heart. That is all" the man replied, slowly rising to his feet.

"I am the keeper of the blade of Eternity. A blade you need to complete the task you are attempting."

"You have Soul Edge?" Talim gasped, raising her tonfas to the ready once again.

The man chuckled. "No, no, dear no. Evil warriors seek that blade. This blade, it seeks a pure heart and steady hand to guide it. No, it is not Soul Edge, but instead it's polar opposite, Soul Calibur."

"I've never heard of such a sword before" Talim thought aloud.

"Come, my home is nearby. I will explain everything to you." The man began walking back towards the forest, with a very distinct hobble.

Talim shrugged at Mina, and followed the man.

The only name the man would offer was Edgemaster, the keeper of Soul Calibur. He explained that Soul Calibur was the true sword of salvation, and existed only to battle the evil Soul Edge.

Edgemaster explained that without Soul Calibur, Soul Edge could not be truly destroyed. He also explained that the sword had spoken to him in his dreams, telling him of Talim, and how to find her. The sword had chosen its master, should she have the will to bear the burden.

The pair spent the night at Edgemaster's small hut, taking solace in the deep darkness of the forest around them. In the morning, the man explained that it was time for Talim to either accept the burden of Soul Calibur, and the danger it presented in its quest, or reject it to the peril of the world.

"Edgemaster, I don't get it. You say a warrior with a pure heart must wield the sword, right?" Talim inquired.

"That's right."

"Well, the wind around you is pure and fresh, and you have superb martial skills. Why don't you take up Soul Calibur against the evil sword?"

Edgemaster sighed. "I wish I could Talim, I really do. But, Soul Calibur chooses its master, not the other way around. I have…a taint on my soul. I hide it deep down, but it is still there. No, only you can wield the sword."

Talim nodded in understanding, as Edgemaster ducked behind his small hut. He returned with a sword wrapped in a white cloth. He kneeled before Talim, offering the weapon to her.

A dancing blue hilt stuck out from the cloth, with incredible detail etched into the metal. The color was like that of the sea, deep and clean. Talim unwrapped the blade of the weapon, and was greeted with an amazing sight.

The weapon itself was blue as well, and the blade was not a single piece, but instead was two long and wickedly sharp fangs. An inch wide gap separated the two prongs.

Talim's eyes followed the blade down to its hilt. The meeting of the blade and handle was flourished with a dual pair of wings emitting from the centerpiece which seemed to resemble an eye.

Soul Calibur radiated strength, purity, and kindness, backed by a silent, strong determination. Talim started to reach for the sword, but stopped short when she remembered that she was not trained to use such a weapon.

"I don't know how to use a sword" Talim said sheepishly.

"Just hold it, and everything will become clear" Edgemaster encouraged.

Talim did as he said, holding the blade tightly, and allowing its calming energy to wash over her. As she gazed at the sword, it began to glow white. The glowing continued to grow, and soon engulfed the entire weapon.

Panic washed over Talim, and she tried to drop the weapon, only to find that she was not able to. The light encased her hand as well, though there was no pain. A second later, the light faded and died, and the sword was no longer a sword. Instead it had become a pair of tonfas.

Talim grabbed the top tonfa before it could fall, and gripped the new weapons in her hands. She spun them around gingerly, astonished by their perfect balance. They were as light as air, and yet as substantial as pure steel. They were the perfect weapons.

Light and power seeped into Talim from the tonfas, pouring into her soul. She suddenly became aware of the Soul Calibur's true nature, along with the nature of Soul Edge. Then she became acutely aware of where Soul Edge dwelled.

The darkness of Soul Edge bit at her, though Soul Calibur gave her the strength to resist. She suddenly looked towards the east, eyes burning with determination to destroy the evil blade.

Edgemaster looked at her proudly. "I believe in you Talim. Go now, before it is too late."

"Thank you, Edgemaster. Mina, let's go." Talim said, starting towards the east at a dead run.

_Soon it will all be over _Talim thought to herself as each step carried her closer to Soul Edge and her destiny.


	11. Pit Of Greed

_Woot, new computer and cable internet, I might just get nearly up to date technology wise in the next decade or so! _

_Not much to note here, just another chapter. Oh, and I haven't forgotten about Tira, we're soon to be reunited with her, in all her glory. Hope to see ya back soon!_

Pit Of Greed

The dark knight made his way through the deep foliage of the small island, drawing ever closer to the presence of the one he sought. He was sure that the man would prove to be a worthy prey. Nightmare could sense the growing presence of a shard of Soul Edge with each step he took.

After a handful of hours marching through the dense, scraggly underbrush, Nightmare discovered a huge hole in the ground. It must have been a hundred feet wide, maybe even more. On the west side of the hole, a single rope bridge swung in the wind, leading to a large platform held aloft in the center of the hole by numerous ropes attached to the walls of the chasm.

Standing on the eastern edge of the platform stood the purple clad man. He hissed at Nightmare before turning and dropping off the metal grating and out of sight.

The dark knight roared with anger, and streaked forward. He ignored the bridge altogether and instead jumped the dozen feet from the side of the hole to the platform.

Shudders raced along the ropes holding the platform up when Nightmare landed, but they held fast. Nightmare glared hard down, and saw that the pit had yet another platform below the one he was on. It was a bit larger, halving the distance from the wall that his current perch enjoyed.

The man was not on the lower level either, but Nightmare could still feel his presence nearby. Nightmare jumped again, down to the lower platform.

Under this second level was a great deal of water, possibly concealing even more levels below. This did not interest the dark knight, but the rope bridge leading from his current position to the east wall did.

The wall in that area had been dug out, leaving a large tunnel in its wake. Torches flickered along the walls, lighting the path. The presence came from deep in this path, drawing Nightmare towards it.

After crossing the bridge, and making his way a few steps into the tunnel, Nightmare sensed something was out of place. Suddenly, several sharp blades ejected from the walls on either side of the dark knight.

Each blade was a round disk, with a razor sharp edge. Several of these blades flew from each side of the wall, at varying heights. A small time delay triggered more blades to emerge from the wall, both further forward and several steps behind, hoping to ensure that anyone that dodged the first volley would be caught by the second.

Nightmare did not attempt to dodge, nor did he have the need to. Though the disks were sharp enough to shred a normal person to death, and even seriously wound, if not kill, an armored foe, they were not enough to threaten him.

Soul Edge reinforced his armor, more than strong enough to deflect the flying projectiles with ease. The blades clattered against the dark knight and fell to the floor harmlessly.

Nightmare continued forward, not even giving the trap a second thought. A few more steps and he heard a slight creak of wood. A huge pendulum swooshed down from a groove in the ceiling that had been hidden by the shadows.

As the blade came flying down, Nightmare stepped to the side, and swung Soul Edge with all his might. The sword connected with the wooden shaft of the pendulum, and removed the blade from its support shaft.

The pendulum bounced on the ground, and settled to a rest with a deafening clang. Nightmare was becoming more and more irritated by all the childish traps slowing his progress towards the dark presence he felt.

Nightmare could see that the tunnel opened into a room not more than a handful of feet ahead of him. As he continued his march, he felt something that didn't feel right about the ground underneath him.

He jumped forward in a leaping dive. As his dive carried him forward, he looked down and saw the floor give way to a pit full of spikes. Right as Nightmare cleared the newly opened hole, a rumble emitted from the ceiling, and a huge chunk of rock fell down, smashing into the hole.

The ceiling rock fit the floor hole perfectly, apparently with the intention that if the spikes did not kill you, the stone would. Though whoever created the trap did not bet on someone like Nightmare making his way through.

Finally with this last trap negotiated, Nightmare was able to enter the small chamber at the end of the tunnel. The room was lit by torches as well, casting ominous shadows across the room. The area was bare except for two marble statues standing in each corner opposite of the entrance and facing the middle of the room, and a single golden table sitting in the center of the back wall, between the statues.

The statues were life sized, around six feet tall. They were both identical, the image of a man dressed in fine Italian clothing. His image seemed to portray him as quite wealthy. At the foot of each statue, carved into the pedestal that the stone man stood on, was one simple word: 'Vercetti'.

Nightmare ignored the cream colored statues, and instead turned his attention to the golden table. It stood about four feet tall, and appeared to be made of pure gold. It was covered in elaborate carvings of swirling leaves and other soft, natural looking shapes.

On the top of the table was a single dagger. The dagger was neither golden nor beautiful, but instead was a ghastly black, and seemed to be covered in blood. Nightmare's heart jumped as he realized that it was a large chunk of Soul Edge. He could not understand why he was unable to sense this piece, but was sure that the mysterious man had something to do with it.

Nightmare raced to the table and grabbed the dagger, feeling its dark energy washing over him. He closed his eyes, and drew out the dark power from the dagger, transferring it to Soul Edge.

After a few moments, the power of the dagger was gone, completely consumed by the dark sword in Nightmare's hand. He opened his eyes and stared at the dagger, which was now grey and bleak, looking like a corpse, and not like the living evil it was a moment ago. He threw the dead piece of steel away.

Nightmare was about to turn and walk away when he noticed there was writing engraved on the golden table where the blade had laid. Nightmare leaned over and studied the inscription, suddenly realizing that the last trap this place had to offer was yet to be unleashed.

On the table were the simple words:

YOUR DEATH NOW APPROACHES

AND THE REAPER'S NAME IS VOLDO

Nightmare smiled, eager to settle up with this Voldo, which had been toying with him for so long now.

A hiss cracked the air behind the dark knight, and the fight was on. Nightmare spun around suddenly, but not in shock, but instead to attack. Soul Edge flew out straight, aiming for Voldo's heart.

Voldo dodged the blow by bending over backwards, all the way to the point where his hands connected with the floor behind him. He strangely remained in this pose, like he was on his hands and knees, but with his stomach in the air instead of his back.

This position caught Nightmare off guard, for he had never seen anyone ever remain in such a pose. Voldo took advantage of the situation and shot forward like a creeping insect. As he reached Nightmare, he bounded back up from his pose, swinging one of his katars over his head and down, and the other up from underneath.

Both the katars met against Nightmare's armor in the same spot, sending sparks flying, and filling the air with the zing of steel on steel. The weapons did not pierce Nightmare's armor, but the force of the blow stagger the knight backwards.

Nightmare was able to recover quickly. He shot forward, right by the old man. He was too close to use Soul Edge, but the sword was not his intention. He raised his left foot and slammed it down, attempting to smash Voldo's foot with his own.

Voldo hopped backwards, nimbly avoiding the attack. Nightmare reached back and punched at him with all his might. Voldo was not prepared for this blow, and the dark knight's twisted, deformed hand caught him on the chin, sending him flying backwards.

Voldo did not hit the floor, but instead tucked himself into a ball, and performed a backflip away from Nightmare. The dark knight did not pause, instead he rushed forward once again, and stabbed at Voldo.

The old man continued his retreat backwards, and into the tunnel. Nightmare pressed on with his attacks. Voldo did not retaliate, but instead just kept up his retreat. He seemed to be leading the knight back out to the platform for some reason.

This was fine with Nightmare, for the tunnel was far too small for him to be able to effectively use Soul Edge. The pair worked through the hallway, and soon made their way back onto the platform.

Voldo began to launch an all out offensive. He snaked towards Nightmare, dipping and twisting in ways no human should be able to. He struck forward with his katars, slipping his blows through Nightmare's defenses.

Every swing of Soul Edge met with nothing more than open air. No matter what Nightmare seemed to do, Voldo was able to avoid and counter him. While the battle raged on, Nightmare's frustration and rage continued to grow.

In the midst of their clash, Voldo fell to the floor, and quickly began snaking himself around Nightmare's legs. He twisted in and out like and snake, and quickly worked his way up the dark knight's back before Nightmare could respond.

Voldo ended his slithering with his legs attached around Nightmare's waist, and his body pressed hard against his back. Voldo raised his katar in the air and shoved it down hard into the knight's neck.

The weapon cut through armor and bit deep into twisted flesh. Nightmare roared in pain, and threw the old man off of him. Black blood oozed down from the gaping wound in his neck, and ran down his armor, leaving dark trails in its wake.

The attack would have killed a normal man, but Nightmare was no longer human, the twisted flesh of his sword hand had spread all the way up to his neck, offering him protection in this particular instance.

Though his jugular was no longer a fatal weak spot, Nightmare was not immune to the pain that tore through him. He screamed out loud, a sound of pure rage and hatred. He allowed his hatred to take complete control of his mind and body.

The dark knight lashed out at the old man, slamming Soul Edge into Voldo's stomach. He was thrown back, but for some reason, the sword did not penetrate his body suit. The darkness that Voldo had given himself to seemed to offer him a great deal of protection as well.

That did not matter to Nightmare though, for no matter how strong the protection, Soul Edge was stronger, and would consume all that stood in its path.

Voldo stumbled and tried to recover from the blow, but was not able to before Nightmare was on him again. The dark knight grabbed Voldo, and pulled him close. Nightmare held his sword up above his head. When Voldo was no more than a few inches from him, he brought the sword down with all his might, crashing the hilt into Voldo's shoulder. He immediately raised the blade and repeated the motion on the other shoulder.

As the hilt came down each time, the air was filled with a sickening crack of breaking bones as Voldo's clavicles shattered from the force. A rasping, suffering hiss issued from the man's mouth, the only sound he could make, having long ago forgotten the art of speech.

Hiss or words did not matter to Nightmare, nothing would stop his assault. With both blows completed, Nightmare threw Voldo down. He waited a few moments to see what the old man would do, and to revel in the suffering he had caused.

As soon as Voldo hit the ground, he scampered backwards, scurrying with now useless arms flopping at his side. He backed up until he was at the edge of the platform, and somehow he twisted himself around to where he was kneeling.

Voldo hissed and grunted, a sad, pitiful sound. Nightmare imagined that had he not destroyed the man's shoulders, he would be holding his hands up in front of him in an effort to plead for his life.

Nightmare smiled, and walked towards the old man. Instead of immediately killing him, he instead reached down and ripped off the dirty white strip of bandage covering his eyes.

A ghastly sight met Nightmare under the wrappings, for Voldo had no eyes, but nothing more than black, rotting sockets where his eyes should be. The old man shook his head violently, wheezing and hissing as though the light somehow was hurting his vision.

Nightmare decided it had been a good day so far. Not only did he find a large chunk of Soul Edge to assimilate, he also was about to consume a very powerful soul steeped in darkness. Soul Edge would walk away from this pit nearly twice as strong as it had been when it arrived.

Nightmare raised Soul Edge, and set it horizontally on Voldo's shattered shoulder. The man wheezed in pain, but did not have the energy to do anything but pray for the end.

Satisfied that the sword was lined up for a perfect decapitation blow, Nightmare drew Soul Edge back. Right as he began his fatal swing, he heard the sound of metal clanking on the platform behind him, and caught the sight of something green tumbling down from above.

Had Nightmare known exactly what was about to happen, he might have tried to check his swing. Maybe.


	12. White Storm

_Sorry this update is so long in coming, this newfangled cable internet has finally allowed me the joy of true multiplayer mayhem. So the past few weeks have been a blur of Star Wars Battlefront II for me hehe. So if you're in a game with me, avoid turrents hehe._

_This chapter is pretty short, but it brings everyone up to where they need to be for the big ending. Only 3 more chapters to go, as long as everything goes as planned. _

_Next chapter…Tira! WOOT! I miss her so much lol_

XII. White Storm

Talim and Mina quickly found themselves on the island Nightmare and Voldo had already traveled. Soul Calibur seemed to yearn for the showdown with Nightmare, and Talim was only too happy to help it get there.

When the pair came upon the opening to the pit of greed, they were surprised to find they were not the only ones there. Before them stood a young man, brandishing an all too familiar sword. They had caught up with Yunsung.

Mina tensed. "Yunsung!"

The young man spun around, his sword at the ready.

"Lay White Storm down and I won't hurt you" Mina commanded.

"If you want it, come take it!" Yunsung said defiantly, assuming his battle stance.

Mina grinned. "I was hoping you would say that."

Mina turned to Talim "I'll handle this myself."

Talim nodded, grateful that she would not have to get mixed up in their private matter.

Mina jumped out to the center of the platform, and drew her halberd. Yunsung did the same, landing a few feet away from her, his sword just as ready for battle as Mina was.

Yunsung opened the battle, thrusting his sword directly forward in front of him. Mina deftly stepped to right, avoiding the blade completely, and leaving her weapon between her and the young warrior.

She pushed her weapon forward, smashing the flat side of the halberd's blade into Yunsung's chest and knocking him back several steps. He looked up stunned at her, and Mina offered him only a smile.

Yunsung pressed the attack again, this time he stepped forward and swung his blade in a horizontal arc, aiming to slash Mina across the chest. He did not catch his prey off guard, however, for Mina just leaned over backwards deeply, allowing the blade to pass right over her stomach.

She immediately righted herself and shoved her halberd down between the warrior's feet. With a fluid motion, she struck one foot then the other, sending Yunsung first stumbling, then falling down.

The young man scrambled to his feet, frustration washing over him. He stepped away, leaving a fairly large gap between himself and his opponent.

"You're not bad, but…" Mina taunted.

Yunsung did not answer, but instead began a headlong charge at her.

Mina laughed to herself, and took a step forward. She pushed the blade of her weapon into the platform, and used the shaft to vault herself straight in the air. She hesitated a moment at the peak of her launch, her entire body pointing straight up.

When Yunsung was in the perfect spot, Mina threw herself down and towards him, creating a great deal of momentum. She brought the halberd up and over from behind her, and smashed the shaft into Yunsung's left shoulder.

Yunsung crashed to the ground again from the blow. This time he did not even attempt to get up.

"What do you want?" He demanded.

"You know what I want. I want White Storm back!"

"But I need it to find the sword of salvation!" Yunsung answered, bringing himself up to a kneeling position.

"The sword is evil! It won't save your country, it will destroy it!" Mina snapped, standing in front of the defeated man.

"I don't care if it's evil! I will defend my people!"

Yunsung suddenly swung his sword at Mina, a swing from his side aimed at the woman's stomach. Mina easily brought her halberd's staff to the side and blocked it. The blow was a feint, however.

The young man produced a dagger in his off hand, and catching Mina completely off guard, stabbed it deep into her right side, a few inches above her waistband. Blood immediately stained the area around the wound.

Mina was surprised, but her years of martial training paid off. She immediately performed a double jumping kick, each of her feet connecting with her attackers chin in rapid succession.

She pulled the blade out of her side, and tossed it away. The small blade flew from the platform and impaled in a tree on the outer perimeter of the clearing. With one sweep of her halberd, Mina knocked White Storm from Yunsung's grasp.

"You son of a bitch!" Mina screamed as she felt the blood flow down her side and leg.

Yunsung did not answer, still in a daze from the ferocity of Mina's kicks.

Mina did not need an answer, nor did she even want one. She raised her halberd over her head and charged forward, with nothing more than Yunsung's death on her mind.

Talim watched the events, and sprang forward as soon as she saw Yunsung produce the small blade. She could not reach the pair before Yunsung struck. Thankfully he hadn't hurt Mina enough to stop her, and as Talim moved forward she felt a bit relieved to see Mina strike back with her kicks.

Talim finally reached Mina right as she was about to kill Yunsung. Mina held her halberd high in the air, preparing for the blow. Talim would not allow Mina to kill, would not allow Yunsung to die.

The young man had been touched by the taint of Soul Edge, and could not help his lust to posses it. As soon as Talim destroyed the evil sword Yunsung would be released from his hunger.

The halberd was right in reach, so Talim reached up and grabbed it, pulling backwards hard. Mina was not expecting any interference, so Talim easily pulled the weapon out of her hands.

Mina spun around in surprise. "What are you doing?" She protested.

"I cannot let you kill him" Talim answered calmly, allowing Mina to reclaim her weapon.

"He tried to kill me after I beat him! If we don't finish him he'll just keep trying!"

"Look at him. He's unarmed, beaten bloody. He's no threat."

Anger flashed in Mina's eyes, and she snapped back around towards Yunsung. Talim had a bad feeling she was going to press the issue, so the young priestess shot forward in a roll, placing herself between Mina and the still dazed Yunsung.

"Don't do this" Talim said.

Mina didn't respond, but did not lower her weapon either.

Talim sighed, and raised her tonfas. "I will use force if I have to."

"Please don't let her kill me!" a voice pleaded from behind Talim.

Talim turned, and saw that Yunsung had stumbled to his feet, but there was no sign of any fight left in him.

Talim started to open her mouth to reassure the beaten man that he was safe, but as she did, a bad feeling washed over her. She felt the presence of another, new threat. It was not Soul Edge, which she knew was under her, somewhere in the pit, but instead something completely different.

She spun around towards the direction the evil seemed to be emanating from, and caught sight of a flash of green.

And then the battle truly began.


	13. To Live Is To Die

_Here we are one more time. Only two more chapters to go!_

_This was a very hard chapter to write, but it had to be done. Hope no one throws rotten tomatoes at me or anything._

_Next time around young Talim faces the monster himself! Hope to see ya back soon!_

XIII.

It did not take Tira long to track down her master. Still in possession of the shard of Soul Edge she had taken from Cervantes, she swiftly made her way to the island where she felt Nightmare's presence so strongly.

She giggled in delight as the small wooden boat took her across the channel from the mainland towards the island. Her master was going to be pleased with her, and that excited her a great deal.

Tira nibbled on a bit of chocolate as the winds brought her to her destination. Finishing her sugary treat, she surveyed the island. The area was lush and green. Trees filled the inland, but too densely.

As Tira gazed inland, a searing, blinding pain swept through her soul. She fell to her knees, fighting to get a grip on the pain that threatened to devour her. Tira could not tell where the pain was coming from.

Tira realized that the pain was not from anything in the physical world, but instead a presence, one that inspired fear in her heart. Fear and anger. There was someone else on the island besides her master, and they were a threat to her and her master as well.

Her anger pushed the pain away, and Tira understood that the presence was disgustingly pure. It was strong enough to rival Soul Edge, though it had somehow kept itself hidden until Tira had arrived.

She stood, and began laughing manically, reveling in the idea of destroying something so powerful. Her mind swirled with her new bloodlust for the death of the presence.

Tira leaped out of her small vessel and danced around on the beach, laughing and carrying on like she had just been proposed to. Suddenly, her laugher stopped along with her dancing. Her face instantly went from the happiness of a teenaged girl to that of a stone cold killer.

"Your death approaches" she whispered into the empty sea air with all the malice of pure evil.

She sprinted through the underbrush until she reached the edge of a clearing. Beyond she saw a large platform suspended over a hole in the ground by several ropes. There were three people on top of the platform, two of them engaged in battle.

One was a man, no more than a year or two older than Tira. He had blazing red hair, and wore a white uniform. The patches on the clothing seemed to indicate he was a member of some group, though Tira could not make out what they said. He carried a single weapon, a sword.

The man's weapon was ivory white, but something was different about it. The surface seemed to dance and shift with his every movement. The man swung it deftly, using a very acrobatic style.

His foe was a woman, maybe in her late twenties. Her long, dark hair flowed down her back in a single braid, reaching almost to her waist. A red headband held her bangs out of her eyes.

She wore a red top, barely nothing more than cloth to cover her breasts, allowing her free upper body movement. Her lower body was covered by a red loincloth, reaching down to her mid calf. White underwear peeked out from behind their crimson covers as the woman danced about in combat.

She carried a huge halberd, somewhere around seven feet long. The blood red staff mated with a steel bladed head, forming a wicked upward curve at the end. An impressive weapon, all in all.

The third person was a young girl, appearing to be almost still a child. Tira placed her anywhere from thirteen to sixteen years old. Her raven black hair was held in place by a pair of brass rings near the end. It was almost like the girl was going for a pigtail look but still trying to appear 'grown up'.

She wore several golden chains around her neck, beautiful accents to her young beauty. Her top consisted of an emerald green halter top wrapped around her chest with white off the shoulder sleeves running midway down her arms. The entire set was accented with strips of blue and red, giving her a very festive look.

She wore white shorts, with a fiery colored strip running around the top where a belt might go. The shorts stopped a few inches above her knees. Tall stockings mixed with red, white and green finished out her ensemble.

In her hands was a pair of tonfas, and these immediately grabbed Tira's attention. They were a deep blue, the color of the calm oceans. Though Tira could not perceive it with her eyes, in her soul she could feel the tonfas breathing.

This was where the pain came from, this was the presence that threatened everything she loved. Soul Edge had a counterpart. Tira wondered if this young girl realized that she wielded a weapon that could rival the mighty evil blade itself.

That did not matter, Tira knew. Stopping her from reaching Nightmare and Soul Edge was the only thing that mattered. Tira had failed her assassin master, she would not fail Nightmare. She would stop the girl, and Nightmare would reward her for it.

Tira watched intently as the scene below her played out. The woman with the halberd was fighting the man, and beating him pretty badly. Every time the man challenged her, she would strike him down.

Finally the man was struck down and did not return to his feet. He was directly in front of Tira's hiding spot in the trees. The halberd woman raised her halberd for a deathblow, but the tonfa girl stopped her. They argued a bit back and forth between themselves, words that Tira did not care enough about to register.

The man slowly rose to his knees and pleaded for his life. Tira knew this was the perfect moment, and she sprinted into action.

She burst from the trees, and leaped to the platform, landing right behind the man. As she came down in her landing, she swung her ringblade horizontally, removing the man's head from his body as easily as slicing through butter.

The man's head flew off to the left, bouncing once before falling into the hole between the platform and the wall. Tira spun around and kicked the still kneeling body as hard as she could, sending it flying to the right, and down the hole as well.

The two women were caught off guard, and Tira took advantage of the fact. She rushed forward again towards the halberd woman. She thrust her ring forward, slicing deeply into her back.

The woman cried out in pain and turned to face her attacker. Tira followed her around, dancing herself into range of the tonfa girl. Tira shot a wicked kick at the young girl, her foot landing directly in the center of her chest, and sending her sprawling to the ground behind her.

Halberd woman attempted a fumbling blow with her weapon, a wild strike not truly targeted anywhere. Tira easily moved out of the way of the flailing weapon, and sliced again at the woman, cutting a deep and bloody trail into the outside of her arm.

The woman stumbled back, but amazingly, was able to regain a bit of her composure. Wincing through the pain, she presented herself in proper battle stance, though fear swam through her eyes.

"I'm gonna kill you now, you ready?" Tira asked mockingly.

The woman responded not with words, but instead with a straight forward stab of her halberd.

Tira stepped to the right, allowing the blade to pass right by her. She then stepped forward a bit and cut at the woman's forward leg.

Her ringblade bit right through flesh, and chewed through bone like it was not even there. The attack did not cut the woman's leg completely off, but it did sever through most of it.

Halberd woman tumbled over, her leg unable to sustain her weight any longer. She caught herself by bringing her weapon back and using it like a crutch to hold herself up.

Tira smiled, the rush of the kill washing over her. She brought her ring up in a vertical arc from the ground, and sliced off the arm holding the weapon completely. Blood spilled from the wound, and the woman began to fall, having lost her last bit of support.

Before the body had time to fall, Tira continued the motion of her swing, turning the ringblade in midair from a vertical swing into a horizontal one, and brought it around. With yet another deft blow, she decapitated this warrior as well.

What was left of the woman finally hit the ground and a large pool of blood materialized around her. Tira basked in the glow of the murder, letting every sensation sink deeply into her spirit.

Her basking was interrupted by an air piercing scream.

"No!" the tonfa girl shouted with all her might. "You! How could you?"

Tira turned, and answered with nothing more than a maniacal laugh, her eyes dancing with insanity, and the absolute fear of facing the pure presence.

The girl's face changed as she looked at Tira. "Your eyes…they are filled with sadness."

Tira wavered for an instant at the words. This girl was showing her pity? Tira had just killed two people in front of her, one was obviously her friend, and yet she is showing compassion?

_Lies! _Tira thought to herself, allowing her hatred to overcome her again, her features becoming hard and full of malicious intent.

The girl sighed. "I am Talim, Priestess of Wind, and wielder of Soul Calibur. I shall release you from your suffering."

"Your heart still beats. The noise is grating!" Tira growled in response.

The pair charged at each other, and met in a massive clash. Both of the women were fairly evenly matched, and Tira did not have the advantage of surprise. No matter how hard she fought, Talim matched her blow for blow.

As the anger welled in Tira, it seemed to that Talim became stronger, and more pure, doing nothing more than increasing Tira's anger.

The fight continued, and Tira noticed that Talim was not attacking, but only defending. If she could hold Tira off so well just being defensive, Tira would surely be no match if she decided to go on the offensive.

This thought made Tira realize she was about to die. Instead of being sad, or even angry at the thought of defeat, it brought her a sense of peace. Her life had been so filled with pain that it had twisted her into a shadow of who she really was.

Relief washed over her at the thought of being released from the pain that was her life. She would not yield, she would make Talim work for it. With each passing second, Tira's mind begged for the release even more, wishing Talim would just strike her down.

A strange thing happened as these thoughts passed through her mind. Talim started to falter and weaken. Tira's blows made the young girl stumble backwards. She was able to block them all, but was rapidly losing strength.

The truth of Soul Calibur became clear. It only had power when facing the darkness. When Tira let go of her suffering and pain, Soul Calibur lost its advantage.

The pair worked their way over to the edge of the platform, Talim trying to move away from Tira, and her newfound power. Tira cut and sliced and danced about, raining blows.

Because she had let go, she never struck hard enough to wound the priestess with anything more than superficial cuts. After a flurry of blows, Talim fell to her knees in front of Tira.

Disappointment and happiness flooded Tira all at the same time. She wanted to be released, but she was also happy that she had once again won a fight beyond any odds. She stood over her prey, gloating once again creeping into her heart.

Tira was about to raise her ringblade and take Talim's head when something caught her attention. A flurry of movements below the platform drew Tira's eye. Nightmare was engaged with a man dressed in some kind of purple body suit. The old man was kneeling by the edge of the lower platform, obviously defeated.

Nightmare was about to kill his prey, and Tira's heart caught up with the excitement of watching her master do what he did best. She forgot about Talim for the moment, not thinking the priestess had any chance of recovering in the brief moment it would take to watch her glorious master.

Talim did recover, however, and was moving to end Tira's suffering. The young priestess had turned around, presenting her back to Tira. She then threw herself forward onto her hands, and shot her legs up and out from behind her, kicking Tira hard in the chest.

Tira flew upwards and out a foot or so before beginning the long drop. As she began to fall she understood her mistake, and had the presence of mind to retrieve Cervantes' blade from her belt, and toss it down behind Nightmare. As she fell down she saw that she was lined up perfectly with the old man.

Comfort flooded into her heart as she realized what was about to happen. If anyone should end her, it should be someone she cared about. And the only one Tira cared for was Nightmare.

She did not call out, nor scream. Instead Tira just closed her eyes and waited for the release of death. All of her suffering, all the insane thoughts, the compulsive behavior, all the pain of her existence was about to be gone.

She was directly behind the old man as Soul Edge sliced through the air. Not only did the blade decapitate the man, but it also ripped through Tira's torso, cutting her completely in half. The two parts of what had been the fearsome young woman tumbled down the hole and into the darkness.

In the last instant before Tira was no more, she thought she heard birds singing.


	14. Light Versus Darkness

_Another chapter is up! The final face off between good and evil has begun! Will Nightmare destroy Talim? Or will the wind priestess find a way to save the tragic knight? Well ya gotta read on!_

_I appreciate Chibi's reviews, but I wanna hear from the rest of you as well! So R&R please. _

_Only one more chapter to go, it's all coming to a close now. I am writing the last chapter as I type this, so I should have it out in a few days or less. Hope to see you back soon for the big finish!_

XIV. Light Versus Darkness

Talim gazed at the carnage around her, a deep sadness settling into her soul. She did not know who the green clad warrior was, but her handiwork was beyond brutal. Two brave warriors had fallen to her ringblade, one a dear friend of Talim's, the other had stood against her, but Talim respected him nonetheless.

Now the woman that took those lives was nothing more than a corpse herself. Talim had watched as she fell, and seen Soul Edge tear through her body. She had also seen the man in purple fall to the evil sword at the same time.

Talim wished there was time to bury the bodies, but Nightmare awaited her on the platform below, and time was of the essence. The young priestess walked to the edge of the platform, and gauged the distance down to the next level.

Time did not allow Talim to seek a safer way down, instead it pressed her into jumping. With the deftness of a cat, the young warrior landed on the lower level opposite of the great Nightmare wielding the sword of oblivion.

Though her landing was so graceful there was not even a sound, Nightmare still took notice and turned towards her quickly. When his sickly yellow eyes took in the sight of the weapons in Talim's hand, the young priestess could swear she saw fear swimming in them.

Nightmare shifted into a battle stance, eager to engage and destroy this last threat to his power.

Talim stepped forward, confidence from Soul Calibur washing over her. She raised her tonfas in front of her chest, in her normal fighting pose.

"This ends now, dark knight."

"Massacre!" Nightmare exclaimed, intending the word to be a threat.

Talim stepped forward, eager to end this engagement and destroy the sword that threatened the entire world. Nothing could stop her, and she knew it. Soul Calibur and Talim would emerge victorious, or the world would fall.

Nightmare did not dare allow the woman reach him, instead he pulled Soul Edge back and shoved it straight forward horizontally. The dark blade rushed out, eager to taste the blood of the wielder of its arch nemesis.

The evil blade forward motion was stopped instantly. Nightmare looked up and saw that Talim had raised her tonfas to block the attack. Soul Edge could not break past Soul Calibur, and the force of the blow was negated completely.

Talim stood still, holding off the massive blade with nothing more than a pair of small tonfas. The power radiating off the slight weapons was beyond intense. The outcome of the battle was already becoming clear.

With a single swing, Talim knocked away the blade, and rushed forward. She closed in, positioning herself so close to Nightmare that his boots pressed beside her shoes.

By being so close, she could prevent Nightmare from properly swinging his weapon, and still leave her ample room for her blows. Taking advantage of this, Talim began striking the dark knight as hard as she could.

Left, right, and then left again the blows came from the small warrior, sending Nightmare reeling, and stumbling backwards. The dark knight knew that he needed to disengage from the powerful priestess if he was to find a weakness in her.

Nightmare turned his backwards stumbling into a fall, and that fall into a roll, putting a comfortable distance between him and his foe. Standing, he eyed Talim warily, his rage and fear building higher and higher with each passing moment.

Without a word, Talim charged in once again. Nightmare responded by swinging his sword in a high horizontal arc, hoping to slam its evil steel into her chest. Talim was prepared for this however, and nimbly ducked under the swinging blade as it passed her.

Immediately rising, Talim punched her left hand, with the tonfa hilt forward, into Nightmare's chest. The blow connects and he reeled a bit from the force of the blow.

He isn't knocked completely off balance, however, and retaliates by bringing his off hand up and slamming it hard into Talim's chest. The blow knocks the priestess off her feet.

Talim bounded back up to her feet as though nothing had happened. Not even taking a moment to recover herself, she instead launched herself forward, her right tonfa sticking straight out in front of her.

"Strike!" she called out, as the weapon smashed into Nightmare's armor.

The dark knight once again stumbled backwards from the force of the blow. He could not understand how the small girl had so much power. Soul Calibur should not have so much power against Soul Edge. Good should not ever outmatch evil, at least not in Nightmare's opinion.

Nightmare recovered from the shock of the blow, and brought Soul Edge to the floor in front of him. He stepped forward quickly, making sure the sword was in line with Talim. Satisfied with his aim, Nightmare pulled upwards with all his might. The sword flew off the floor and upwards in a wicked vertical arc.

The blade was lined up with Talim's chest, and the top edge of the blade would have bitten into her had she been there. But Talim was not there. She had stepped off to the right, leaving Soul Edge to grab at nothing but the air where she had been a split second before.

Talim did not hesitate, instead she took advantage of her superior speed. She stepped closer to Nightmare, and brought her hands together. The tonfas pointed at Nightmare's side, exactly where she intended to strike.

Swinging with all her might, Talim slammed her weapons into Nightmare's side. The pure, blue blades bit deep into the dark knight's armor. The evil metal held the tonfas back for only a moment. As the armor gave way, Soul Calibur tasted the flesh of the wielder of its one true enemy.

Nightmare roared in pain, but before he could react, Talim extracted her tonfas. Nightmare bent over in pain, exactly as Talim hoped he would. She then raised her tonfas above her head, and slammed them down into his shoulders, crashing the dark knight to the floor again.

The dark knight slowly rose from his prone position once again, and stared hard at the young warrior. With each passing moment, and each passing blow, the girl was encased in a brighter and brighter glow. Nightmare's power was waning against her, and her power seemed to be growing by leaps and bounds.

Anger and fear seared even deeper through Nightmare's soul as the sword he held protested the situation. Soul Edge would not allow itself to be destroyed, and surely not at the hands of some two bit, starry eyed brat.

Talim did not move forward, instead opting to see how the dark knight would respond to his latest fall. Nightmare knew that she was toying with him now, taking her time before destroying him.

As he desperately tried to think of some maneuver, some way to defeat the priestess, he suddenly noticed a large shard of metal lying not far from the edge of the platform he was on.

He instantly knew that this was the shard he had sent Tira for. In the small, human part of his soul, he felt a twinge of regret at Tira's death, especially when seeing she had completed the mission he had sent her on.

Nightmare hoped that assimilating this large shard would provide him with enough power to take down Soul Calibur. He lunged forward, but not at Talim, but instead at the shard.

Talim was caught a bit off guard, and did not respond, allowing Nightmare to reach the shard.

"Blood, Darkness, come to me!" he cried, draining the evil energy from the shard and into Soul Edge itself.

Once the power had been consumed from the shard, Soul Edge realized that it was almost complete. Only a few very small fragments were unaccounted for. The sword realized it had enough power to stand on its own, and not be linked to the weakness of flesh.

Nightmare began laughing manically. He fell to his knees, and bent over, laughing as though he had heard the best joke in the world. Talim stood back, not sure how to proceed.

The dark knight stopped his laughing suddenly, and fear and pain swirled about in his evil eyes.

"Inferno!" he shouted at the very top of his lungs.

With that word, Nightmare's armor shattered, and fell from his body, leaving nothing more than a dirty white tunic and deep brown pants clinging to him. He suddenly leaned back, so far he almost fell over backwards.

He did not fall, but instead something else happened. Fire erupted from his body, as though he was expelling flames from his soul. The fire seemed to step out of him, and the flames took Soul Edge with it.

The flames took on the shape of a human, and it appeared that something was burning in the flames, but not being consumed. Soul Calibur whispered to Talim's soul of what she was seeing.

This was Inferno, Soul Edge's form in the mortal plane. It was no longer concerned with the matters of the flesh, nor did it have the weakness of flesh either. If Soul Calibur did not defeat it now, here, then the world was doomed.

Talim could not help but take notice of Nightmare. The man had fallen to the ground behind Inferno. The twisted, deformed hand he held Soul Edge in had returned to normal, and his hair was a flowing blonde instead of blood red. There was no longer any kind of evil aura about him, for once again he was just Siegfried, nothing more.

Talim did not have long to consider the man, for Inferno stood in front of her, holding Soul Edge in a battle ready position.

Soul Calibur gave Talim the knowledge to know that Soul Edge morphed to its wielder the same as the pure sword did, though it did have a 'natural' form. Talim was very relieved to see that Soul Edge kept the same form it had when Nightmare had used it, since that gave Talim a distinct edge over it in battle.

Or at least that's what she thought.


	15. Infernal Terror

_Well my friends, here we are, at the end of another tale. I do hope you have enjoyed reading, for I have enjoyed writing it for you. _

_A sequel is planned for this, though it might be some time before I get to write it. The new one is planned to include Zasalamel, Setsuka, Taki, and possibly another character. _

_Before that, I am working on a new project, available for reading at a historical tale under the name 'Brotherly Love'. I hope some of you here get the chance to read that piece._

_When that one is finished, I'll be working on more fanfic, either a Winx story (for my daughters) or a Star Wars story. _

_Thank you for lending me your time and your eyes for my work. _

XV. Infernal Terror

Talim stood facing the burning figure known as Inferno, the evil sword incarnate. Soul Calibur whispered to her to be strong, but Talim could not choke back the fear that gripped her heart at the thought of facing a being of pure fire, and even purer evil.

Inferno did not wait for Talim to attack, instead it took the initiative. Inferno snaked Soul Edge out, in a forward thrust similar to Nightmare's favored move. Talim thought she was prepared for such a move, and began to sidestep the blow.

The burning man was infinitely faster than Nightmare, and Talim suddenly found the blade smashing into her stomach and throwing her backwards. She landed on the platform with a thud, knocking the wind from her.

She did not have time to catch her breath, however, for Inferno leapt towards her, with Soul Edge held high over his head. Talim barely rolled out of the way before the massive blade slammed into the floor, cutting a huge gash into the platform.

Talim scrambled to her feet and attacked the burning creature with all her might. She was able to land a few blows before Inferno slammed his burning fist into her chest and sent her reeling away once again.

She did not know if she injured Inferno, though she did feel something firm like flesh give away when she struck. Her attacks did not have much effect, since Inferno did not hesitate in the slightest.

The thing's power was immense, and Talim began to doubt her abilities. She began to fear that she would not be able to destroy the evil sword and that the world would fall into darkness.

Her thoughts dwelled on her family, and her friends back home in the village. The thought of all of them dying tugged on her mind, stroking the fires of her fear. Soul Calibur urged her to push such thoughts away, since fear was the tool of the enemy, but Talim could not shake the feeling of doom.

Inferno took advantage of her fear and hesitation. As Talim slowly rose to her feet from the ferocious punch that the burning one had landed, Inferno drew itself up, and began spinning wildly, defying all gravity.

The ball of flame and steel that was Inferno drew into the air, nearly all the way to the underside of the upper platform. It hung there for a moment, much to Talim's surprise.

Then Inferno flew downwards, and forward, smashing into the young priestess. Talim raised Soul Calibur to block the attack, but her fear had weakened the power of the weapon, and Inferno cut and slashed Talim repeatedly.

Pain seared through Talim as cut flared open across her legs, her stomach, even her shoulders, and a single cut through her left cheek, slightly below her eye. The force of the spinning ball of flames threw Talim to the ground. Darkness began to swim in Talim's vision, and it seemed the end was near for the young priestess, and perhaps the entire world.

Soul Calibur was forced from her grasp as she fell, and as the pair of tonfas flew away, they came together, and melded back into the sword's natural form, the dual fanged longsword.

The weapon landed no more than a few feet from Siegfried, who was still lying on the ground. In an instant, Siegfried relived everything that had happened to him. He recoiled in horror as he realized the crimes he had perpetrated while he was Nightmare.

Inferno released a howl, an unearthly horrible sound, drawing Siegfried's attention. As the knight looked up, with pain and remorse gripping his soul, he saw a blue sword lying close to him.

He knew immediately what it was, and knew he could use it to strike down the thing that had made him into the monster he now was. Without a moment of hesitation, he sprang to his feet and grabbed the sword.

As soon as his hand fell on the hilt, the sword began to twist and morph. A few seconds later the sword settled into the form of a huge zwiehander. It was as long as Soul Edge, though much more impressive with its blue watery color, and powerful blade with a large hole missing from the middle of it.

Siegfried rushes forward, and jams the blade of the weapon into the back of Inferno, who was still standing over Talim's body. Flames and heat erupt from the new wound Siegfried has created, forcing him to draw the blade out and take a step back.

Inferno screamed in pain, and whipped around to face this new threat. The burning man lunged forward in an attack, but Siegfried was more than ready for him. The two come together, man facing his own sins, good facing its corrupted twin.

Each swing that Inferno attempted was met by a block from Siegfried. No matter how the burning man attempted to strike, Siegfried was more than ready for him. Soul Edge was becoming desperate as it realized that Siegfried did not fear it, for he had once held it.

Inferno jumped back, trying to find a way to take down Siegfried. In desperation, Inferno shoved Soul Edge forward in a horizontal thrust. Siegfried smiled as soon as he saw the burning man move back, for he favored the thrust himself, and immediately knew the signs of the attack being launched.

Siegfried nimbly stepped to the side, and took a single step forward. The attack whistled right by the knight, piercing nothing but empty air. Siegfried swung Soul Calibur with all his might and the blade removed Inferno's head and send the burning ball bouncing away.

Siegfried kicked Soul Edge out of Inferno's grasp, and then sliced with Soul Calibur once again, only this time from the opposite direction of the decapitation blow. This time the sword cut the fiery figure in half at mid torso.

Inferno fell to pieces, and the flames sputtered out of existence, leaving nothing more than a pair of charred lumps of some unknown material where the head and body had been.

Siegfried did not stop to ponder the makeup of the two chunks. He knew that Soul Edge was the true enemy, and that it had to be destroyed. He quickly walked over to the sword, which lied on the platform, its single eye still blinking.

"No more will you taint the world!" Siegfried growled.

With a fluid motion, Siegfried brought Soul Calibur around and pointed it down at the eye in the evil sword. He thrust the pure blade down with all his might, sending the point of his weapon directly into Soul Edge.

A piercing scream ripped through the air, throwing Siegfried and Soul Calibur backwards. An amazingly strong wind blew through the pit, and lights flashed and fled from the dying sword, flying all around the chamber.

Siegfried sat up enough to watch as Soul Edge left the world for good, pleased with himself that he was able to atone at least a little bit for the horrors he had committed as Nightmare.

Finally the blinding display stopped, and Soul Edge shattered into a multitude of pieces. Siegfried breathed a sigh of relief and stood. He made his way over to Talim, and gazed at her with a great burden of guilt.

She was still alive, though barely. Siegfried did not know if he could save her, or if she would even last long enough for him to get her out of this place, but he had to try. He owed her that much. She had saved him from Soul Edge, so he vowed to do everything he could to return the favor.

Using a piece of cloth he tore from his pants, he secured Soul Calibur to his back, and then gingerly picked up Talim. He worked his way up and out of the pit, taking Talim with him.

When he reached the top edge of the pit, he was drawn for some reason to look back. Just beyond the lip of the upper platform he could see the strewn mess of his broken armor below.

The armor was not the only thing he saw. Kneeling beside his armor was a very large man. The man wore a snow white robe, complete with a hood over his head, which was in stark contrast to his deep dark skin. Siegfried could not see his face well, but could see that in place of one eye the man had what appeared to be an oversized golden ball.

The man stood, and brought an enormous white scythe in front of him. He pointed it at Siegfried menacingly. Right as Siegfried was about to place Talim on the ground and draw Soul Calibur, the man cackled a wicked laugh, and shot out of sight.

Siegfried looked about nervously, expecting a surprise attack. A few moments passed and no attack came. Siegfried wanted to stay and search for the man, but Talim needed treatment, so the man would have to wait.

The knight turned and began towards the coast, praying a boat was still there. Behind him, the armor began to shake, vibrating on the floor. A few moments later the pieces began to draw to each other and slowly they began to reform into the shape they had held when Nightmare had worn them.

Soul Edge had been beaten, but it was not truly defeated. Not yet.


End file.
